Mayawati orders probe after engineer quits over threats

LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Sunday ordered a high-level probe into the resignation of an executive engineer, who accused a ruling BSP legislator of extortion bids and threatening him, an official said here.

The enquiry into the allegations levelled by executive engineer Shiv Das has been entrusted to state Principal Secretary (Irrigation) K.S. Atoria, a government spokesperson told IANS. Shiv Das resigned Saturday night.

In his resignation addressed to Mayawati, Shiv Das alleged that Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator B.R. Ambedkar, who represents Lakhna assembly constituency in Etawah district, was threatening to eliminate him if he failed to meet his extortionist demands.

The legislator was also alleged to have warned the officer that he would meet the same fate as Manoj Kumar Gupta, an executive engineer of the Public Works Department (PWD) who was allegedly beaten to death by a BSP legislator and his goons in neighbouring Auraiya district in 2008.