Varanasi: District social welfare officer Rajesh Chaudhary was arrested from Kunwar Singh Udyan area in Azamgarh by the Kotwali police on Wednesday for allegedly paying Rs 51.46 lakh as salary to 10 illegally appointed teachers.Azamgarh ASP (city) Madhuwan Kumar Singh said Chaudhary (55), native of Ambedkarnagar and posted in Azamgarh, was booked along with head assistant of his office Satyendra Bahadur Singh under sections 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) and 316(5) (criminal breach of trust) of BNS on complaint of RK Chaurasia, deputy director (social welfare, Azamgarh division), on May 9.On Feb 20, one Arun Kumar Singh had submitted a complaint to Azamgarh district magistrate Ravindra Kumar alleging that Chaudhary and Singh had misused govt funds to pay salary to assistant teachers whose appointments were in violation of govt orders and despite ban on such payment by the state govt. The DM formed a committee under the chief development officer to probe the matter.The committee, which also comprised district development officer and chief treasury officer, found that appointments of 10 assistant teachers were illegal and despite govt ban, Rs 51,46,780 was paid to them as salary.The committee’s report stated that cases related to these matters were pending before the high court. After receiving the report, the DM forwarded it to state govt with recommendation for stern action. After govt approval, police lodged an FIR against Chaudhary and Singh.
