
Haridwar District Magistrate among 12 suspended in Rs 54 crore land scam
In a major crackdown on corruption, the Pushkar Singh Dhami government on Tuesday suspended the District Magistrate (DM) of Haridwar, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), and the Municipal Commissioner with immediate effect in connection with a land scam.The case pertains to the purchase of a parcel of land, reportedly valued at Rs 14 crore, for Rs 54 crore. In a first, all senior officials were suspended simultaneously following a probe ordered by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Dhami.advertisementThe unprecedented administrative shake-up took place after a probe led by Uttarakhand administration's Sachin Ranveer submitted a comprehensive 100-page report to the government, implicating the 12 officers, including two IAS officers and one state civil services officer.

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Hans India
32 minutes ago
- Hans India
GHMC General Council holds discussions on monsoon prep
Hyderabad: The GHMC General Council meeting on Wednesday held detailed discussions on monsoon preparedness and other basic amenities. The 11th meeting was chaired by GHMC Mayor Gadwal Vijaylakshmi. During this meeting, the members voiced their outrage at the horrific attack on innocent individuals by terrorists in Pahalgam. The council members extended their heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of this attack and held a two-minute moment of silence to pray for the peace of the souls who have departed. GHMC Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi has called on both authorities and public representatives to collaborate effectively for the city's progress. Prior to the start of the meeting, the Mayor spoke at the council gathering and stated the Chief Minister has guaranteed that there will be ample funding available for infrastructure and welfare development within GHMC, and she expressed his appreciation for the support given to the development of Baldia through the allocation of funds. The pre-monsoon sanitation initiative aims to clean all streets to prevent seasonal diseases. She stressed the program's large-scale implementation for city cleanliness and urged officials to work with local representatives, MLAs, MLCs, and MPs for its success. Zonal review meetings are addressing public concerns, and decisions have been made to resolve issues raised by corporators. The mayor confirmed that corporators will collaborate with officials on sanitation, de-silting, Nala development, and infrastructure improvements in various zones. The aim is to identify new routes for the approximately 744.22 km of roads designated in CRMP-1 and to transfer the management of a total of 1142.54 km of roads to private agencies for the next five years (2025-2030), while seeking approval for a budget of Rs 3825 crore for this initiative. Furthermore, the corporators from various parties claim that they made plans to remove the officials due to alleged irregularities in the tenders for vehicles intended for use in the monsoon relief efforts. In the meeting, BRS corporators raised concerns about the arrest of Baba Fasiuddin, a Congress member from Borabanda, alleging his involvement in a suicide. They raised slogans and held placards demanding Fasiuddin's arrest. Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi intervened and successfully calmed the upset corporators. She mentioned that a First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged and that the case is currently being investigated. 'The law will take its course, and if the BRS corporators have any additional evidence related to this issue, they are urged to present it to the investigating authorities,' she stated. However, BJP corporators expressed their discontent with the council meeting. During the session, BJP corporators resolved to remove the Mayor over issues related to road maintenance, street lighting upkeep, sanitation, birth certificate processing, entomology, and the construction and upkeep of flood water canals. Other issues discussed were the operation of HYDRA, the status of street lighting, the process for issuing birth and death certificates, the rainwater harvesting pits built by GHMC, the restoration of RTC bus stops, the absence of essential infrastructure in cemeteries, and the painting and beautification projects carried out on flyovers throughout the city. The meeting was attended by MPs Eatala Rajender, Raghunandan Rao, MLCs Vijayashanti, Balmuri Venkat, Mirza Riaz ul Hassan Effendi, Mirza Rahmat Baig, Addanki Dayakar, MLAs Zulfiqar Ali, Majid Hussain, Kausar Moinuddin, Rajasekhar Reddy, Bandari Laxma Reddy, Commissioner R.V. Karnan, Additional Commissioners Sneha Shabarish, Venugopal, Venugopal Reddy, Pankaja, Subhadra,and others were present.


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
20 statements recorded before Manish Sisodia, Satyender Jain grilling in classroom scam
In a significant development in the alleged classroom construction corruption case, the Delhi Police 's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has recorded statements of nearly 20 individuals, including engineers, contractors, and officials from the Education Department. According to sources, police have also questioned an architect whose bank account allegedly received funds from the contractors. Notably, no architect was officially appointed in this government project, raising serious questions about how and why the funds were transferred to the architect's account. This financial trail has now become a crucial aspect of the investigation. Before summoning former Delhi ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain for questioning, ACB officials have conducted an extensive and technically detailed investigation. Two engineers were specially roped in to assess the financial losses incurred in classroom construction. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trading CFD dengan Teknologi dan Kecepatan Lebih Baik IC Markets Mendaftar Undo The ACB had earlier written to the Chief Technical Examiner, seeking expert assistance to evaluate the technical aspects of the case. This move aimed to determine whether there was deliberate cost inflation or procedural irregularities during construction. With preparations complete and multiple testimonies on record, the case now appears to be heading toward the high-profile questioning of the two former ministers. Live Events Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) issued summonses to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain over an alleged Rs 2,000 crore corruption scam in the construction of classrooms in government schools . Minister Satyendar Jain was summoned to the ACB office on June 6, and Manish Sisodia was asked to appear in court on June 9. This comes after a complaint was filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Harish Khurana, BJP MLA Kapil Mishra and Neelkanth Bakshi of the BJP's Media Relations Department against the AAP ministers, who were accused of inflating costs for constructing semi-permanent classrooms, as per a statement by the Deputy Commissioner of Police Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) Shweta Singh Chauhan. According to Chauhan, the probe into the investigation of the case revealed massive cost escalations and violations of procurement rules, with 34 contractors linked to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Speaking to ANI, Chauhan said, "We received a complaint against Manish Sisodia, former Deputy CM, and Satyendar Jain, former PWD Minister... the scam is of over Rs 2,000 crore. The classrooms were semi-permanent structures, and the cost estimate was around Rs 24,00,000 per classroom, which was more than the prevalent market rate back then." The complaint alleged irregularities in the construction of approximately 12,748 classrooms at a reported expenditure of Rs 2,892 crore. The cost per classroom, as per the awarded tenders, stood at around Rs 24.86 lakh, even though similar structures could be built in Delhi for approximately Rs five lakh, they claimed.


Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Kidnapping of Bathinda-based bizman: Dismissed Sub Inspector among 4 to face trial
Four accused, including a Chandigarh Police's dismissed Sub-Inspector Naveen Kumar Phogat, will face trial for kidnapping and dacoity, at the Chandigarh District Court. The accused — Vajinder, Virender, Naveen Kumar Phogat, and Shiv Kumar — have been booked for allegedly kidnapping a Bathinda-based businessman and extorting Rs 1.01 crore from him. The FIR was registered in August 2023 at Sector 39 police station, Chandigarh. The court of Ashwani Kumar, Additional District and Sessions Judge, after going through the chargesheet filed against the accused by the police, and its accompanied documents, said that 'a prima facie case punishable under Section 365 (kidnapping or abducting a person with the intent to secretly and wrongfully confine them), 367 (kidnapping or abducting someone with the intent to subject them to grievous hurt), 389 (putting a person in fear of accusation in order to commit extortion), 397 (robbery or dacoity), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) read with section 120 b (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. 'Accused have been charge-sheeted accordingly. They have pleaded not guilty to the charge and claimed trial,' said the court, while ordering the matter to be listed for July 11. Among other accused, Phogat, who was recruited in Chandigarh Police as an assistant sub-inspector in 2012, has been embroiled in controversies earlier as well. He was accused of raping a 25-year-old Mumbai-based model at a hotel in Chandigarh's Industrial Area in June 2018. He was dismissed from service on the then SSP Nilambari Jagdale's orders in October 2018. But after the complainant failed to identify him in court and the prosecution also could not prove the allegations, he was acquitted by a local court in February 28, 2022. He was then reinstated in the police. In the ongoing case, Bathinda-based businessman Sanjay Goyal had alleged to the police that he was kidnapped and robbed of Rs 1.01 crore by Phogat, who was then additional SHO at Sector 39 police station, and other police personnel on August 4, and was threatened to be falsely implicated in cases of heroin smuggling and under the Arms Act if he reported the matter.