Uttarakhand garden scam, CBI investigation reaches border district, garden department officer questioned
The CBI team is busy uncovering the layer by layer in the much talked about garden scam of Uttarakhand. About 70 crore rupees were spent in the name of purchasing saplings in the garden department. Direct fraud was detected in the payment of crores of rupees. Along with the government’s investigation in this scam, the hearing is going on in the High Court. The High Court had ordered a CBI inquiry into this scam. After which the CBI is investigating the case.
The investigation of the garden department scam in the state has also reached the border district Pithoragarh. A CBI team reached here and questioned the District Garden Officer and returned after examining the documents. It is being told that the team can reach here again soon for investigation. Here, after the CBI inquiry, the District Garden Officer has gone on a few days leave for health benefits.
In Pithoragarh, a CBI team secretly reached the office of the Garden Department located in Takana. Here they questioned District Garden Officer Triloki Rai for several hours regarding the garden scam. Also examined the documents. Sources said that the team returned the same day with some important documents. The arrival of the CBI team here created a stir among the departmental officers and employees. Here, District Horticulture Officer Rai has gone on leave from Saturday. He told that he has diabetes problem. He has gone to Dehradun for treatment. He has refused to be questioned. He says that he was earlier called to Dehradun for questioning.
Case registered against them
In all three FIRs, the then Horticulture Director has been made the main accused, while a case has been registered against 15 named and 2 unknown. In the first FIR, along with the then Director HS Baveja, the then Chief Horticulture Officer Dehradun Meenakshi Joshi (now Deputy Director Watershed Management), Anil Rawat (UK Hitech Nursery, Village Banpur Tyuni), unknown government servant, in the second FIR, former Horticulture Director HS Baveja, Nursery Development Officer Triloki Rai (Chief Horticulture Officer Pithoragarh), then Rajendra Kumar Singh Potato Development Officer Udham Singh Nagar (now Chief Horticulture Officer Nainital).
The then Horticulture Inspector Circuit House Dehradun Narayan Singh Bisht, Assistant Development Officer Horticulture Nainital Bhopal Ram, Sunil Singh resident Majra Prabhu Bajpur Udham Singh Nagar, Mohd. Farooq Dar resident Navpura Kulgam (Jammu Kashmir), Sajd Ahmad resident Bona Dewasar Kulgam Jammu Kashmir, Shami Ullah Bhat Avantipur Pulwama, Vinod Sharma resident Rajgarh Sirmaur Himachal Pradesh and others, while in the third FIR, former Horticulture Director HS Baveja, then Chief Horticulture Officer Uttarkashi Anil Kumar Mishra, Nitin Sharma resident Anika Traders Hamirpur Kala Raiwala Dehradun and Harjeet Singh resident Rajpur Road Dhoran Dehradun have been made accused.
