The Jan Sangharsh Morcha chief Raghunath Singh Negi has alleged that while the State Government claims to maintain a zero-tolerance towards corruption, it appears that they are shielding a senior official of the Peyjal Nigam allegedly caught in a sting operation. He also questioned whether those in power are collaborating with those allegedly involved in blackmailing in this particular case.
Addressing the media at a Press conference here on Thursday, Negi said that a sting operation had been carried out during August 2017 on the senior official of the Peyjal Nigam. Three months have passed since then but no action has been taken by the authorities in this case, he said.
He said that the JSM had sought information about the documents related to the sting operation from the chief minister’s office. However, the chief minister’s office informed that it did not have the said documents which appeared to be possibly with the department concerned or the law department. “After this, we sought the documents from the Peyjal Nigam and the state administration but they also responded stating that they did not have the said documentation. This makes one question the government’s apparent reluctance to provide the documents and on whose directions is the file on such a big instance of corruption being suppressed. It is a matter of concern that even the important office of the chief minister does not know where the documents related to the sting operation are. It is unfortunate that files pertaining to liquor, mining and other works with ulterior gains or considerable income are decided upon in a day while the case of corruption is being put on the back-burner. We demand a probe into this case by an independent agency, failing which we will initiate an agitation and even approach the court of law if required,” he added.