Corruption charges against UP ministers' staff

Shaken by charges of corruption against private secretaries of three Uttar Pradesh ministers, the state government on Thursday formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the matter.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath also suspended the three private secretaries of the ministers and ordered for registration of cases against them.

A private Hindi TV channel had on Wednesday aired an alleged sting operation conducted by it, which showed the staff of the UP ministers Om Prakash Rajbhar, Archana Pandey and Sandeep Singh demanding bribe for allotting lucrative government contracts.

The sting showed the private secretaries assuring to help procure contracts of mining, the supply of books for primary schools and licenses for liquor shops in exchange for money. The staff members were heard saying that the money was distributed among the ''higher ups".

All the three ministers sought to distance themselves from the matter saying that they had ''no knowledge'' about the same and vowed to take stern action against the three employees.

The opposition parties, however, were quick to pounce on the government accusing it ''shielding'' the ''corrupt'' ministers. ''All the three ministers must be sacked immediately... they should also be booked along with their private secretaries... their role should also be investigated,'' said a senior state Congress leader here.

Adityanath, however, said that the state government had a ''zero tolerance'' policy over corruption. ''We will ensure that the guilty, howsoever mighty he may be, will be punished,'' he said.