Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has suspended three personal secretaries to ministers of his cabinet after a sting operation carried out by a private channel (ABP News) purportedly showed them seeking bribes for approving mining contracts, supply of school books, and transfers. CM Adityanath has also ordered officials to file FIRs against them.

According to a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office, the Chief Minister has also ordered the formation of a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to probe the incident. The SIT, under ADG (Lucknow Zone) Rajiv Krishna will now investigate the matter and submit a report within 10 days, the statement issued by Chief Minister’s office said.

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The sting video shows Om Prakash Kashyap, private secretary to Minister for Backward Class Welfare Om Prakash Rajbhar, purportedly negotiating over a deal for the transfer of an education official. “Humko lagta hai 30 se 40 toh chalta hai (To me, it looks like 30-40 will do),” he is heard saying.

Santosh Awasthi, private secretary to Minister of State for Basic, Secondary and Higher Education Sandeep Singh, was also caught on camera purportedly discussing bribes for approving a contract for the supply of free books in government schools. “Maan lijiye aapka 50 crore ka nikla toh 50 crore mein aap unko kya denge, woh hamein bataiye (If you get 50 crore, how much of it will you give him, you tell me that),” he is heard saying.

The third secratarial staff suspended in S P Tripathi, Private Secretary to Minister of State for Mining, Excise and Prohibition Archana Pandey. He was heard negotiating a mining contract for Saharanpur. “Ten per cent government mein aa raha hai…90 per cent alag se (Ten per cent is coming to the government… 90 per cent is separate),” he was saying.

“The Chief Minister has said that his government has a zero-tolerance policy on corruption, and effective action will be taken if a complaint has been made at any level,” the official statement said.