Uttarakhand: Dhami’s warning – no matter how influential an officer is, action will be taken if he commits corruption
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Taking major action on the Haridwar land scam, the government has suspended the officials including DM and Municipal Commissioner. This is the second time in the history of Uttarakhand when a DM has been suspended after being found guilty in a case. The whole matter is related to the land scam of Rs 54 crore. At the same time, now Dhami has clarified that the Uttarakhand government will not take any laxity on the matter of corruption.
CM Dhami said that, ‘Our government follows the policy of zero tolerance towards corruption. We are committed to eliminate it from the grassroots level. As soon as the matter of Haridwar land scam came to my notice, immediate action was taken. The accounts of those involved in illegal land transactions were frozen. After reviewing the investigation report, seven officials including the then Municipal Commissioner, District Officer and Administrator have been suspended. Now the whole matter has been handed over to the Vigilance for in-depth investigation.’
CM Dhami said that, ‘The clear objective of the government is to make the state corruption free and ensure accountability in the administration. In recent months, the government has shown that now action will be taken not only against small employees but also against big officials, no matter how big their position or influence is. Earlier, people were hesitant to question the officers, now strict steps are being taken against them as well.
This is the matter
In the year 2024, Haridwar Municipal Corporation bought 2.3070 hectares of land in village Sarai for Rs 54 crore during the municipal elections. During that time, the responsibility of Haridwar Municipal Corporation was in the hands of the then Municipal Commissioner Varun Chaudhary. It is alleged that the land purchased by the Municipal Corporation was worth Rs 13 crore. Whereas it was purchased for Rs 54 crore. However, till date it is not clear for what purpose the land was purchased.
