The tenure of Chhattisgarh Chief Secretary Shivraj Singh ends only on Thursday. However, a controversy is already brewing over the choice of his successor, with the surfacing of a transcript of an alleged taped conversation and bribe charges against the IAS officer tipped to step into his shoes.A demand has also been raised that the top bureaucratic post in the state should be occupied by a “son of the soil”.The Governor’s office has received a complaint against the Chairman of the State Board of Secondary Education, Bijoy Kishore Sundar Ray — a frontrunner for the Chief Secretary’s post — alleging that he had demanded a bribe from a doctor to ensure a seat for his son at the Raipur Medical College.The complaint made by Ajay Agrawal of Kawardha — the home district of Chief Minister Raman Singh — was routinely forwarded from Raj Bhavan to the Government and reached the General Administration Department.Just five days before the appointment of the new Chief Secretary, the contents of the complaint have now appeared in a local newspaper. It also published the transcript of a “conversation”, purported to be between an unknown person and Ray, “fixing” the deal to guarantee admission to a candidate in the medical college at Raipur by placing him in the merit list. It also said the complainant was in possession of a tape of the conversation.Describing the allegations as a criminal conspiracy to tarnish his image, particularly at a time when the selection of a new chief secretary is in the offing, Ray has shot off a letter to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police demanding a probe into the entire matter.Assuring to make himself available for any probe, he also demanded that the complainant and other material evidence be subjected to scientific tests.Ray told The Indian Express that it was a mud-slinging campaign to discredit him. “The complainant appears to be non-existent as the police are yet to trace him,” he pointed out, adding that he had already served notice to all concerned and would pursue the matter.Raipur Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) Ajajshatru Bahadur Singh, who is investigating into the complaint by the IAS officer, said a notice has been issued to the newspaper concerned, asking it to make available all material. “The police will proceed accordingly,” he added.
