UP Graft Case: After Guv’s Letter to Yogi, Accuser Sent to Jail

The UP principal secretary has been accused of demanding Rs 25 lakh as a bribe.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath.

(Photo: IANS)

A day after the UP Governor wrote to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath seeking action against the CM’s principal secretary for allegedly demanding bribes, the complainant in the case has been arrested, News18 reported.

Lucknow resident Abhishek Gupta was taken into custody for alleging that secretary SP Goel demanded a bribe of Rs 25 lakh to sanction land to expand a road leading to his petrol pump at Raiso in Hardoi district, The Indian Express reported.

Principal Secretary SP Goel first demanded bribe indirectly, but was later upfront in asking for Rs 25 lakh.

Complainant Abhishek Gupta to News18

The governor had apprised the CM of Gupta’s woes in getting additional land for setting up a petrol pump in a letter dated 30 April, the Express report stated. The letter was also sent to Gupta.

Prabhat Dikshit, the BJP state headquarters in-charge, wrote to Lucknow SSP seeking an FIR against Gupta, The Indian Express reported.

Dikshit accused Gupta of pressurising officers to get “his inappropriate works done” in the false names of BJP office bearers, the daily said.

The incident comes in the backdrop of Adityanath suspending the district magistrates of Fatehpur and Gonda for alleged irregularities on Thursday, PTI reported.

Meanwhile, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has demanded a CBI probe into the matter.

This is Ridiculous, I Have Recused Myself: Secretary Goel

Goel, a 1989 batch IAS officer who was appointed by the Yogi government, has rubbished the allegations.

This is ridiculous. I received the file only after the governor’s letter was received. I recused myself, did not deal with the case and informed the chief minister about the same. I am not aware of any decision taken on the issue.

SP Goel to News18

Mrityunjay Kumar, Adityanath’s media advisor, called the allegations baseless and denied the charges, reported The Indian Express.

Gupta had been demanding government land, which is not permissible under any rules, alleged Kumar. “He went on to make a fake complaint,” he alleged.

(With inputs from News18, The Indian Express)