Senior Rajasthan official held for corruption

Jaipur, Aug 17 (IANS) A senior Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) officer was Friday booked on charges of alleged corruption during land acquisition by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) in the state, police said.

Rajasthan police's anti-corruption bureau (ACB) registered a first information report (FIR) under sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Gopalram Swami, who is at present posted as additional divisional commissioner in Bharatpur, 150 km from Jaipur, they added.

"A land had been acquired in Dholpur for widening of National Highway 3 in 2011. Gopalram Swami was posted as Dholpur's additional district magistrate (ADM) at that time. He paid compensation of Rs.60 lakh to the man who claimed the ownership of the land and two shops built on it," ACB's additional superintendent of police Rajendra Varma told IANS.

The officer said that the shops were disputed properties. "Another man who also claimed the ownership approached the ADM and requested that his arguments on the ownership should also be taken into consideration as per the rules. However, the officer did not give him a chance to prove his ownership and released the compensation money," said the officer.

"The ACB received a complaint regarding this and found the charges true during preliminary investigation. Then, an FIR was lodged against the RAS officer," Varma added.