Lucknow: Difficulties are increasing for two retired IAS officers in Uttar Pradesh. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the Rs 1,500-crore Gomti Riverfront scam, has sought the state government’s opinion on the probe into the role of retired IAS officers Alok Ranjan and Deepak Singhal. Alok Ranjan was the Chief Secretary of the state when the scam happened and Singhal was posted as Principal Secretary, Irrigation. Later he became the Chief Secretary. CBI sources said the agency has approached the state government for its opinion on the probe into the role of two IAS officers, who are yet to be probed.
The CBI has sent a letter to the state’s Appointments and Personnel Department in this regard, but state government officials refused to confirm or deny it. The CBI had started investigating the case in 2017 on the recommendations of the Yogi Adityanath government.
In November 2017, the CBI took up the matter and registered an FIR against eight engineers of the irrigation department of different ranks in connection with the Gomti River Channelization Project and the Gomti River Front Development Project.
The central probe agency had also filed a chargesheet on February 17 against senior assistant Raj Kumar Yadav, two directors Himanshu Gupta and Kavish Gupta of a private firm linked to the project and Badri Shrestha, senior advisor to the project.
The project included the construction of a rubber dam to maintain the water level, a stadium, an amphitheater for 2,000 people, cycle and jogging tracks, a play area for children and a musical fountain.
The Enforcement Department (ED) had also registered a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in March 2018 in connection with corruption in the Gomti Riverfront Development Project.