Dehradun    The Uttarakhand government has taken major action in the Rs 56 crore land scam related to Haridwar Municipal Corporation. On the instructions of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, 12 officers including two IAS officers were suspended on Tuesday. This step was taken after irregularities and negligence came to the fore in the investigation.

Officers who were punished:
    IAS Karmendra Singh, then District Magistrate Haridwar
    IAS Varun Chaudhary, then Municipal Commissioner
    Ajayveer Singh, SDM
    Senior Finance Officer Nikita Bisht
    Senior Assistant Vicky
    Registrar Kanungo Rajesh Kumar
    Chief Administrative Officer Kamaldas

Earlier, Executive Engineer Anand Mishravan, Revenue Superintendent Laxmikant Bhatt, and Junior Engineer Dinesh Chand Kandpal had already been suspended. At the same time, the service extension of two other officers was terminated.

What is the scam case?
This case is of the year 2024. The investigation revealed that Haridwar Municipal Corporation bought 2.3 hectares of unsuitable and garbage dumped land located in Gram Sarai area for Rs 54 crore, while its actual price was around Rs 15 crore. No clear purpose was stated regarding the utility of the land. It is alleged that deliberate irregularities were committed in the purchase of land and government money was misused by increasing the price several times.

Investigation and action on the instructions of CM Dhami
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had ordered an inquiry into the scam in view of its seriousness. Secretary Ranveer Singh Chauhan submitted the preliminary investigation report on May 29, which exposed the complicity of the officials. Instructions for action were given on the basis of the report and the Personnel Department issued suspension orders on Tuesday.

Deployment of new officers
IAS Mayur Dixit has been made the new District Magistrate of Haridwar, while IAS Nitika Khandelwal has been appointed as the DM of Tehri. The Uttarakhand government has given a clear indication that corruption will not be tolerated and strict action will continue against the culprits.