The controversy over alleged release of a mastermind of Nabha Jail break case (Punjab) Gopi Ghanshyampura in lieu of huge monetary gratification by a senior Special Task Force officr turned out to be `conspiracy’ to defame the elite force 'by some media persons'. 

This was claimed by Additional DG (law and order) Anand Kumar, who probed the allegations. Giving a clean chit to the IG-rank officer and the STF, Kumar said in a statement on Friday said that he would now try to find out the `brain’ behind the 'conspiracy'.

In his report submitted to DGP office, the ADG claimed that he went to Punjab and recorded statements of both officers of Punjab Police, arrested accused and some other officers in Uttar Pradesh but none confirmed of Gopi's arrest or his subsequent release after gratification. 

Kumar claimed that some media group aired or published fictitious reports about arrest and subsequent release of the Babbar Khalsa militant in lieu of a huge sum.

As the controversy erupted, the state government ordered a high-level probe into the charges. The STF subsequently issued a denial about  the charges made and dismissed it as an effort to malign in the image of the elite force. 

Earlier media reports had claimed that an IG collected Rs 45 lakh to facilitate the release of the accused. Reacting to the charges, Power minister Shrikant Sharma had told reporters that officials found guilty would not be spared as the Yogi Adityanath government had zero tolerance towards corruption and crime.