The land consolidation officer of Roorkee Haridwar, Pradeep Garg was arrested by a team of State vigilance department on Sunday. The arrest of the officer was talk of the town on Sunday and most of the residents appreciated the action against him.
The department acted on a complaint it received recently. On the investigation, after the receipt of complaint, the Vigilance team gathered sufficient evidences against Garg. It was disclosed that Garg was able to stay put in Roorkee town from last 16 years despite being an officer of UP cadre and had amassed enormous wealth. The public image of Garg is of a corrupt officer.
The vigilance found that Garg has 30-35 residential plots in his name and name of his wife and was involved in many transactions involving sale of agriculture land. The officer was notorious for undue exploitation of the farmers and is a owner of a grand bungalow located in civil lines area of Roorkee. He also owns a Pizza hut franchise in the town.
The Vigilance team also found that Garg has opened a fake firm ' Advisors' in the name of his wife Smriti Garg to offset the black money earned by him. The vigilance team has slapped charged under section 13 (1) D, 13 (1) E and 13 (1) and 2 of IPC and Section 420 of IPC on Garg.
The officer was arrested by a team led by Officiating Superintendent of Police (SP), Pramod Kumar.
The director, Vigilance, Uttarakhand has appreciated the team for its action on corrupt officer and declared a cash prize for its team members.