Assaulted engineer was corrupt, says Ghaziabad mayor

GHAZIABAD - An executive engineer of Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation who was assaulted Friday was employed illegally on the behest of Mayawati government, city mayor Damyanti Goel said Saturday.

A.K. Singh was never appointed as executive engineer. He was only appointed as assistant engineer and that too as an incharge for traffic for Commonwealth Games for just two months. But he was serving in Saharanpur in addition to Ghaziabad. Further, he was not a civil engineer by qualification,” Goel said.

“I received complaints of corruption against him for at least fifteen times in the past and had apprised Basant Lal (municipal commissioner) and Chief Minister Mayawati about his appointment, but no action was taken,” the Bharatiya Janata Party leader said.

Singh was manhandled by a group of councillors Friday in Surya Nagar, who accused him of using inferior materials in the construction of various projects in the area.

Goel also said the over-bridge in Surya Nagar, where he was assaulted, saw a massive cost escalation - from the initial projection of Rs.9.50 lakh to Rs.2.50 crore - and was of poor quality.

“The wall easily collapsed with just one touch. We cannot imagine the casualties if a school bus fell down,” she said.

Singh, however, maintains he is the victim of a political conspiracy.

“It is the government who has appointed me. It is not the mayor’s job to appoint or remove me. On Friday, I did not come face to face with the mayor nor did I abuse anyone. I shall not release any payment for any irregular act or under somebody’s pressure,” he said.