The Vigilance team has arrested the in-charge secretary of Krishi Utpadan Mandi Samiti red handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 1.20 lakh from two people in the name of renewing the licenses of shops of the Fruit and Vegetable Mandi Samiti. It is alleged that the in-charge secretary had demanded the said amount from two shopkeepers in the name of issuing the license.
Fruit and Vegetable Mandi Samiti President Shafayat Chaudhary and Shakeel Chaudhary, residents of village Sarvarkheda, have shops in the Mandi for about 9-10 years. The licenses of shops are renewed here every year. The process of license renewal of about 30 shops is going on. Shafayat Chaudhary and Shakeel Chaudhary had also applied for renewal of license 8-10 days ago. In this regard, they were in talks with the in-charge secretary of the Mandi Samiti Puran Singh Saini, resident of Laxmipur Patti.
The complainants said that Saini had demanded Rs 60,000 each from them as convenience fee for this, whereas the license renewal fee is about Rs 250. When his complaint was not heard after a lot of efforts, he complained on number 1064. On Tuesday evening at around 4:30 pm, the vigilance team from Haldwani reached the Mandi Samiti office and caught the in-charge secretary Puran Singh Saini red-handed while taking a bribe of Rs 1.20 lakh.
The vigilance team started interrogation. The vigilance team continued to question the in-charge secretary and both the complainants in this regard till late night. As soon as the commission agents and employees of the committee came to know about this matter, there was a stir in the premises. A large number of people gathered outside the committee office to gather information about the incident. During this time, the police team did not allow anyone to enter through the committee office gate. The action of the vigilance team was going on till the time of writing the news. No official statement has come from the vigilance team yet. At present, the team is questioning the in-charge secretary of the Mandi Samiti and other aspects related to bribery are being investigated
