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SIT formed to probe case against ‘middleman’ Nikant Jain
He allegedly sought bribe on behalf of an IAS officer from an industrial group, which had applied for approval of their solar plant proposal through Invest UP
LUCKNOW UP Police authorities on Friday constituted a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by an ASP-rank officer, to investigate the case against ‘high profile middleman’ Nikant Jain, 39, who allegedly sought bribe on behalf of an IAS officer from an industrial group, which had applied for approval of their solar plant proposal through Invest UP.
A police official said the SIT is led by 2000 batch Provincial Police Service (PPS) officer Vikas Chandra Tripathi, currently posted in Barabanki as ASP (north). “ACP (Gomti Nagar) VK Dwivedi, a 2014 batch PPS officer and Lucknow crime branch inspector Alok Kumar Rao will also be part of this SIT. The team will investigate this high-profile case,” the official added. Tripathi also confirmed the formation of the SIT.
Jain was accused under sections of Prevention of Corruption Act in the FIR registered at Gomti Nagar police station of Lucknow on March 20. He was allegedly demanding 5% of the total cost of the solar project as commission for approval of the project, allegedly at the behest of senior officer of Invest UP. The FIR was lodged on the complaint of senior authority of SAEL Solar P6 Private Limited, Vishwajeet Dutt after the state government took cognizance on the firm’s complaint.
The UP government had ordered Invest UP CEO Abhishek Prakash’s suspension on March 20, following accusations by the representative of SAEL Solar P6 Private Limited that a senior officer asked him to speak to an alleged middleman Nikant Jain and, on being contacted, Jain demanded commission for getting Invest UP’s evaluation committee’s approval for the project.
Jain is currently lodged in Lucknow district jail in judicial custody under Section 8 of the PC Act, 1988, which deals with the offence of bribing a public servant and Section 12 of the PC Act for abetment of offences.
The FIR against Nikant Jain was lodged under BNS section 308 (5) for extortion, sections 7, 12 and 13 of Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, 1988. But after primary investigation, sections 7 and 13 of the PC Act, which solely deal with corruption of public servant, were dropped during investigation.
