Editor (investigation) of Samachar Plus Ayush Gaur alleged during a press conference here on Monday that the intention of the owner of the news channel Umesh Sharma to blackmail either the Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat or some of his close associates through sting operation had not been fulfilled.
Narrating the sequence of events which culminated in the dramatic arrest of Sharma on Sunday, Ayush said that he had been told in January this year that some top politicians and bureaucrats in Uttarakhand being corrupt, he must do reality check of them as part of his assignment.
He further said that Sharma had asked him to contact a friend of his Mrityunjay Mishra who then was the resident commissioner of Uttarakhand in New Delhi. “Our plan was to reach the additional chief secretary Om Prakash posing as businessmen interested to set up a hotel in Uttarakhand. We were successful to conduct his sting but nothing objectionable came out as he had not demanded money,” he said.
Ayush added that two months after, Sharma had asked him to contact one Rahul Bhatia in Dehradun. “In Dehradun, Bhatia introduced me to one Sanjay Gupta, Kasim besides brother and nephew of the Chief Minister. But none of them demanded money,’’ he said.
The editor investigation of the news channel on whose complaint Umesh Sharma had been held said that he had once heard Sharma saying that once the CM was brought under control their works would run smoothly. “However, by this time, it became clear to me that intentions of Sharma were not good,” he said.
Ayush claimed that as part of the mission, he had been able to enter the residence of the Chief Minister with three hidden cameras and a spy camera. “But at the last moment, I decided against doing what I was told to do. Sharma turned furious when he came to know of my failure to sting the CM.
He threatened me. At this point of time, I decided to expose Sharma. Subsequently, I wrote to the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. But no response came.
Finally, I met some senior police officials of Dehradun and narrated to them everything. I also lodged a complaint on their advice leading to the arrest of Sharma,” Ayush said.
Have evidences of Mishra demanding money: Ayush
As per Ayush Gaur, the role of the controversial officer Mrityunjay Mishra was a vital cog in the scheme of things. He said that Mishra used to demand money in lieu of arranging meeting with ACS Om Prakash. “But Umesh Sharma insisted that money should be handed over to Om Prakash to put pressure on the Chief Minister,” he said. Ayush further claimed that he has evidences of Mishra demanding money. “Now the evidences are in the possession of police too,” he added.
Arvind Pandey, Dhan Singh Rawat also targets of the sting operation: Ayush
Ayush claimed that the Education Minister Arvind Pandey and Minister of State for higher education Dhan Singh Rawat were also targets of the sting operation. “But we failed in the errand,” he said.
According to him, Umesh Sharma has a habit of recording audio and video clips of politicians and keeping them to blackmail them at appropriate time.