Four Officials Arrested In UP Home Guard Salary Scam; Three Others To Be Questioned About Fire Burning Salary Muster Rolls

Four officials of the Uttar Pradesh Home Guard unit have been arrested in the salary scam case of the security force, including Divisional Commandant Ram Narayan Chaurasia, SSP Gatam Buddh Nagar confirmed.

Chaurasia was earlier the District Commandant of district unit, besides Assistant Company Commander Satish, Platoon Commanders Montu, Satveer, and Shailender have also been arrested in the case.

Also, three persons have been detained for questioning in connection with the fire in the office of the District Commandant, Home Guards, in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddha Nagar, police said.

Among those detained include the assistant to the district commandant, identified as Satish, and two home guards constables, identified as Anil and Pinku Kumar.

The fire, which occurred in the early hours of Tuesday (19 November), destroyed salary muster rolls of personnel dating back to 2014. Last week, the state government had ordered a probe into the alleged scam relating to fake attendance of home guards and withdrawal of money by fraudulent means.

It is widely believed that the fire was not an accident, but a part of conspiracy to destroy the fake salary log sheet.

Sources said that the fire incident will cause difficulty in tracing the muster rolls of the home guard.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Vaibhav Krishna said, "We have detained three persons for questioning. Satish has been detained as he is the senior most officer in the home guards department. Anil was detained as he was the only person present on the premises when the fire broke out. Pinku was detained on suspicion."

Tanu Upadhayay, circle officer (CO), Greater Noida 1, said that officials are unaware of the exact timing of the fire, but it possibly broke out in the early hours of Tuesday (19 November).

"We could not find any CCTV camera in or around the district commandant's office. Our investigation is on in the matter and the persons behind the incident will be arrested soon," the CO said.

A forensic team from Gautam Budha Nagar visited the spot Tuesday afternoon on the orders of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

(With inputs from IANS)