ABP Bribery Sting Operation: Case registered against 3 suspended secretariat staff allegedly caught taking bribe

The Uttar Pradesh government had set up a SIT on Thursday to probe into the into alleged corruption charges levied against Private secretaries of 3 UP Ministers.

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Police on Friday filed an First Information Report (FIR)  against 3 private secretaries who were suspended by the state govt after ABP News' Bribery Sting operation on Wednesday which caught them red handed, seeking bribe inside the secretariat building in Lucknow. The UP Police registered a case at Lucknow's  Hazratganj Police Station against all three accused for taking money in exchange of getting work done. The secretaries who were caught ‘red-handed’ asking for money in exchange of getting work done, were those of UP Minister of State for Mining, Excise, and Prohibition Archana Pandey, Backward Classes Welfare Minister Om Praksh Rajbhar and UP Minister of State for Education Sandeep Singh. The Uttar Pradesh government had set up a SIT on Thursday to probe into the into alleged corruption charges levied against Private secretaries of 3 UP Ministers. The SIT will be headed by Rajiv Krishnan, ADG Lucknow Zone. Earlier on Wednesday, the State Government had ordered a probe against the officials based on the Sting operation carried out by ABP News. The Chief Secretary had sought a report on the matter by 11 am on Thursday. Santosh Awasthi, the secretary to Sandeep Singh, was caught asking for 'appropriate share' in return for books' contract in UP schools, while S P Tripathi secretary to Archana Pandey was caught saying that in a mining contract in Saharanpur there is a possibility of 100 per cent loot. Reacting to the revelation, the Bharatiya Janata Party said that strict action will be taken against those caught in the bribery sting. It said the party works on 'zero tolerance' on corruption and a swift action will be taken against accused.