Lokayukta wants CBI to probe ex-minister

Mehrotra found that Upadhyay and his family possess immovable properties worth more than Rs 35 crore in Hathras,Noida and Delhi. The Lokayukta recommended that the probe cover the assets of Upadhyay,his wife Seema — BSP Lok Sabha MP — his father Ramcharan,his brothers Rameshwar and Mukul,and sisters-in-law Ritu,Kalpana,and Anita. Upadhyay is MLA from Sikandra Rao constituency of Hathras.

The Lokayukta has given a list of eight Delhi- and NCR-based companies,named Quadra Infratel Pvt Limited,RPU Infratel Pvt Limited,Ms Pooja Utkarsh Builders Pvt Limited,Omsai Nirman Pvt Limited,RPN Hotel Pvt Limited,RPU-IT Services Pvt Limited,STV Telecom Pvt Limited and Ruchika Autolink Pvt Limited,allegedly managed by Upadhyay’s brother Mukul and sister-in-law Ritu,and recommended a probe into their dealings,saying that they are suspected to have been used for money laundering by Upadhyay.

The complaint against Upadhyay was filed by Ashwini Sharma,a resident of Hathras,in January. Sharma alleged that Upadhyay’s family members received properties worth more than Rs 2 crore as donations,and possessed assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. He alleged that Upadhyay’s family possessed residential plots worth more than Rs 25 crore,residential buildings worth more than Rs 7.25 crore,and many of these properties were benami.

Mehrotra said that Upadhyay was not cooperating with his investigation and had not submitted a proper reply to the allegations,therefore he has asked the government to order a criminal investigation. He said Upadhyay had also filed a petition in Allahabad High Court to get the investigation stayed. Upadhyay could not be reached despite several attempts.

Mehrotra has also recommended an inquiry by the Technical Audit Cell of PWD into contracts awarded by the department’s Aligarh zone. Mehrotra,in his investigation,found that a large number of contracts were given to Upadhyay’s sister-in-law Kalpana and his associate Ashish Sharma under the influence of the minister.

The Lokayukta found that 90 per cent of these contracts were given to Sharma and Kalpana through short-term tenders and most of these contracts were given at more than the departmental rates. Also,in most of the contracts given to Sharma and Kalpana,there was either a single bidder or just two bidders,he found.

Mehrotra has recommended a probe by the Board of Revenue into the sale of 0.616 hectares of land in Hathras as it was allegedly illegally converted into agricultural land from residential land to evade stamp duty and benefit Upadhyay’s sister-in-law Ritu,who bought that land.

According to the probe investigation,the previous owner,Hanuman Poddar,had got the land converted from agricultural into abadi in 2006 but the land was again converted into agricultural on August 2009,just about a month before the land was sold to Ritu,by SDM of Hathras without any request from Poddar. It was also found that the land was sold to Ritu at a price lower than the district circle rate.