The officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are conducting raids at 40 locations in 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh, including Ghaziabad, Lucknow and Agra, in connection with alleged irregularities in the ₹1,600 crore Gomti riverfront development project.
Former engineers, superintending engineers and other engineers of the state’s irrigation department along with private contractors and businessmen have been named as accused, people familiar with the developments told Hindustan Times on Monday.
The Gomti riverfront development project was launched in 2015 by the previous state government which was led by Samajwadi Party (SP) with Akhilesh Yadav as chief minister. Many prominent environmentalists have pointed out that the project was seen as an interference in river systems. This the second probe initiated by the CBI in the project scam.
The central agency had first registered a case in the scam in December 2017 on the recommendations of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Uttar Pradesh government. In March this year, the Uttar Pradesh government gave sanction to the CBI to prosecute former executive engineer, Lucknow Division, Sharda Canal, Roop Singh Yadav, and former junior assistant, Irrigation Works, Lucknow, Raj Kumar Yadav, for allegedly following corrupt practices during the execution of the project during the Samajwadi Party rule from 2012-2017.
News Source : ABP Live
