Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government has suspended Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Nidhi Kesarwani over alleged irregularities in land acquisitions for the Delhi-Meerut and Eastern Peripheral Expressways.

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The officer is currently on central deputation, and the state government has recommended action against her. "Following zero-tolerance policy toward corruption, UP CM Yogi Adityanath has ordered the suspension of the then DM Ghaziabad, now on central deputation, and ordered to forward the matter to the Centre to initiate departmental action," the CM office said in a tweet in Hindi.

The Yogi Adityanath government has promised strict action against those involved in irregularities in land acquisition.

"A section officer and a review officer of the Appointment Department will also be suspended for the delay in taking up the matter on the probe report. Departmental action will also be initiated against the deputy secretary," it added.

Nidhi Kersarwani is a 2004-batch Manipur cadre officer. She was the district magistrate of Ghaziabad in 2016. Currently, she is the deputy director at the health ministry's National Institute of Health and Family Welfare. She has been accused of paying land acquisition compensation six times the actual amount. She and some other senior officers have been accused of financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 20 crore, the Navbharat Times reported.

Many officers allegedly bought lands before acquisition in the name of their relatives and paid inflated compensations.

With inputs from PTI