Within 24 hours of the arrest of five Home Guard department officials in Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida) for swindling salaries on fake muster rolls, similar irregularities were detected in Lucknow after which a Home Guard Commandant was arrested.
The police claimed that the arrested officer was the mastermind behind these irregularities.
Sources said that the Principal Secretary (Home Guard) and the DG (Home Guard) handed over their findings in the Noida scam to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday, after which the government ordered a probe into the muster roll record of Home Guard department across the state.
On Thursday morning, Home Guard Commandant Kripa Shanker Pandey was arrested from his Gomti Nagar residence in Lucknow.
The arrested commandant allegedly siphoned off over Rs 5 lakh by withdrawing daily allowances of 23 Home Guard jawans even when only nine were on duty at Gudamba police station in July and August, 2019.
Meanwhile, DGP OP Singh said that a probe into the Home Guard duty scam was ordered across the state and the commandant’s arrest in Lucknow was a part of it.
“We have got enough evidence against the commandant and he was arrested after an FIR was lodged against him at Gomti Nagar police station by Inspector, Gudamba police station. We will not spare anyone involved in corrupt practices,” the DGP said in Lucknow on Thursday.
“In Lucknow, there are 44 police stations and now a probe is on to assess the situation in the remaining police stations,” he said.
On Wednesday, five Home Guard department officials were arrested for their involvement in the duty scam in seven police stations in Noida.
On Tuesday night, these officials had burnt evidences in a Noida office, forcing Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to order a high-level probe into the scam.