LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh Police has detained a man who accused a senior bureaucrat in Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's office of corruption and filed a complaint with Governor Ram Naik.
Abhishek Gupta, a Lucknow-based businessman, had written an email to Mr Naik on April 18, alleging that the senior IAS officer SP Goyal, the Principal Secretary to Mr Adityanath, was asking for a Rs. 25 lakh-bribe to clear formalities for setting up a petrol pump in the Hardoi district. This complaint was forwarded by the Governor to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on April 30. However, a leaked photo of the letter went viral yesterday.
Overnight, an FIR was filed against Mr Gupta by the in-charge of the BJP State Headquarters in Lucknow. In the FIR, it has been alleged that he used names of senior BJP functionaries to try and influence officials of the Chief Minister's office to get personal work done.
Mr Gupta was picked up by police officers this morning from his Lucknow residence and taken to an undisclosed location. "We filed the FIR after a complaint from the BJP. We have included relevant sections of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) and our first aim is to question him and record his statement before a magistrate," said Deepak Kumar, Lucknow Police Chief.
Before he was taken away for questioning, Mr Gupta had repeated his allegations to news agency ANI. "First he demanded it indirectly, later asked for Rs. 25 lakh specifically," Mr Gupta alleged.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is away on tour, has asked the Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary - the state's senior-most bureaucrat, to present a factual report on the allegations against Mr Goyal who is yet to respond to the charges.
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav demanded a CBI probe into the row. "The man who has complained is going to jail without any investigation. If someone has complained, there should have been an investigation. Yhere should be a CBI investigation on it," he said.