UP govt transfers 4 IAS officers after CBI carries out searches in sand mining scam case

The Uttar Pradesh government transferred on Wednesday night four IAS officers, including those whose premises in the state were searched by the CBI in connection with a mining scam.

The central probe agency has registered two cases in the Uttar Pradesh mining scam, naming former minister Gayatri Prajapati and four IAS officers as accused, and carried out searches at 12 locations in the state

The agency's FIR names Prajapati, a former minister in the Samajwadi Party government, and then principal secretary in the geology and mining department Jiwesh Nandan, special secretary Santosh Kumar, then district magistrates Abhay and Vivek.

The 2007-batch IAS officer Abhay who was the Bulandshahr District Magistrate has been put on the waiting list and Rajya Poshan Mission Director Ravindra Kumar has been sent in this place, an official spokesperson said.

Vivek, the mission director of the Uttar Pradesh Skill Development Mission, and Devi Sharan Upadhyay the chief development officer of Azamgarh too have been put on waiting list.

CBI had carried out searches at various places in the state including the premises of Abhay, Vivek and Devi Sharan Upadhyay.

The case pertains to the alleged irregularities in grant of mining leases in violation of mandatory e-tendering policy introduced by the state government on May 31, 2012, which was upheld by the Allahabad High Court on January 29, 2013.

The searches started Tuesday as part of agency's comprehensive operation across the country in cases of corruption and continued Wednesday. The searches are spread at 12 locations including Bulandshahr, Lucknow, Fatehpur, Azamgarh, Allahabad, Noida, Gorakhpur, Deoria among others.

The agency teams searched the residence of Abhay in Bulandshahr and Vivek in



Lucknow.

"Cash worth around Rs 49 lakh was recovered from the premises of then DM, Fatehpur (Abhay); Rs. 10 lakh cash was also recovered from the premises of the then ADM, Deoria (Devi Sharan Upadhyay). Some documents related to properties from the premises of the then DM, Deoria (Vivek) were also recovered," CBI Spokesperson Nitin Wakankar said.

Meanwhile, Abhay issued a statement on the official twitter handle of Bulandshahr DM, claiming that the CBI probe does not pertain to irregularities during his tenure as the Fatehpur DM.

"The visit of CBI team related to irregularities in mining leases awarded in district Fatehpur. It was not related to my posting in Bulandshahr," he said. He also said, "No undeclared assets were recovered by the CBI. The details of cash recovered from me have been provided to the CBI team."

Delhi HC seeks Union minister Harsh Vardhan's response on plea challenging his LS election

The Delhi High Court sought Union minister Harsh Vardhan's response on Thursday on a plea challenging his election to the Lok Sabha from the Chandni Chowk constituency here.

Justice Navin Chawla issued notice to the Union minister of health and family welfare, seeking his reply on the petition which has sought that his election to the Lower House of Parliament be declared as void.

The plea moved by Arun Kumar, who claims to be a voter of the Chandni Chowk constituency, alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader had indulged in corrupt practices by not disclosing the real cost of a residential apartment bought by his wife.

The court has put up the matter for further hearing on September 24.

In the parliamentary polls held in April-May, Vardhan won the Chandni Chowk seat defeating the Congress's Jai Prakash Agarwal and the Aam Aadmi Party's Pankaj Gupta.