The Jan Sangharsh Morcha chief and former vice chairman of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, Raghunath Singh Negi has alleged that more than one dozen criminal cases were withdrawn in public interest by the State Government headed by previous Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna.
Addressing the media in Dehradun on Thursday, Negi alleged that the State Government had in the past withdrawn these cases citing public interest but in reality the cases were withdrawn to benefit fraudsters, members of the liquor and land mafias even though the prosecution/police/district administration had objected to the cases being withdrawn.
Negi said that Uttarakhand is fast become a hub for criminal activities. “During the tenure of Vijay Bahuguna as the Chief Minister, the State Government withdrew more than one dozen cases citing public interest as the ground for withdrawal of the cases. Cases registered under IPC Sections 420,468,471,473,474, 120 B, 34 and various other sections for fraud and other crimes were withdrawn by the State Government citing public interest.
In all such cases withdrawn by the State Government, the police/administration and prosecution had strongly objected to the cases being withdrawn as the public interest angle was not visible in these cases. In spite of this the Government favoured frauds, conspirators and influential persons under the influence of the liquor and land mafias,” alleged Negi, while adding that the Government had also withdrawn cases against those who had secured llB degrees through fraud. “At a time when people with clean images are getting rarer, the State Government’s actions are strongly objectionable and do not bode well for the State. The Jansangharsh Morcha will soon meet the Uttarakhand Governor and demand that such actions be prevented in the future,” said Negi.