Three panchayat secretaries accused of posing as officials, demanding bribe at cattle shelter

A cowherd-keeper at a cattle shelter in Sambhal district has accused three village panchayat secretaries of arriving uninvited, posing as nodal officers, inspecting the premises without authorization, and demanding a bribe of 10,000 rupees in exchange for signing the facility's register. The incident, which took place on 12 September at the gaushala in village Kalha under Gunnour block, came to light after the caretaker secretly filmed the three officials on his mobile phone and lodged a complaint with senior authorities. District Magistrate Ankit Khandelwal has constituted a three-member inquiry committee to investigate the allegations and has made it clear that no secretary was officially deputed to the cattle shelter as a nodal officer.

The three accused secretaries, Mahesh and Umesh, both posted in Baniyakhera block, and Kamal Singh, posted in Rajpura block, have no official connection whatsoever to Gunnour block or to the supervision of the cattle shelter in question. Despite this, all three arrived together in a single car at the gaushala in village Kalha and introduced themselves to the premises as nodal officers. According to caretaker Chhote, when he refused to allow them to conduct an inspection without proper permission, the trio allegedly threatened him, warning that not only would the gram pradhan's term as administrator be terminated, but the panchayat secretary's job would also be lost.

Chhote immediately telephoned Vijaypal, the husband of the village head, to inform him of the situation. After receiving permission from Vijaypal, the caretaker allowed the three secretaries to inspect the cattle shelter. When the inspection concluded and Chhote asked the officials to sign the gaushala register as a record of their visit, the three secretaries allegedly demanded money. Sensing something amiss, the caretaker began recording the encounter on his phone. Once the trio realized they were being filmed, they left the premises hastily without signing the register or completing the formalities.

Vijaypal subsequently filed a formal complaint about the incident with higher officials. In response, District Magistrate Khandelwal confirmed that no secretary had been appointed or sent to any cattle shelter in the capacity of nodal officer. He has ordered an inquiry by a committee comprising Deputy Director of Agriculture Arun Kumar Tripathi, District Panchayati Raj Officer Girish Kumar, and Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Shailendra Singh. Action will be taken based on the findings of the committee's report.

When contacted for comment, one of the named secretaries, Kapil, denied any involvement in the incident. The mobile phones of the other two accused secretaries were switched off and they could not be reached for their version of events. The matter has sparked concern over misuse of official position and corruption among grassroots-level government functionaries in the district.