Guilty persons in NH-74 compensation scam will not be spared, says Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat

Dehradun: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has said that all guilty persons in the Rs 300 crore NH-74 compensation scam will be punished. “There will no compromise on corruption under any circumstance. Our government’s policy is clear. Anyone involved in the scam, be it a low-level employee or a senior bureaucrat, should be ready to face action,” the chief minister told reporters on Wednesday. The special investigation team probing the scam submitted its report to chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh. The possible role of senior bureaucrats in the scam was mentioned in the report. Though authorities are tight-lipped about the officials whose names have come up in the scam, sources said that permission has been sought from Department of Personnel and Training to initiate action against guilty persons. 20 persons, including four Provincial Civil Service officials, have been arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the compensation scam so far. The scam came to light in March 2017, when an IAS officer found irregularities in the land acquisition for widening NH-74 in Udham Singh Nagar district. It was alleged that agricultural land was recorded as non-agricultural land to increase its value.