A 300 cr. NH-74 compensation scam leads to suspension of two senior IAS Officer Pankaj Kumar Pandey and Chandresh Kumar in Uttrakhand. Both of them recently been questioned by Special Investigation Team (SIT) looking into the scam were placed under suspension on the basis of the report submitted by the investigating panel, the suspension order said.

The scam is related to alleged conversion of land use and officers were secretly involved and they paid selected landowners compensation 20 times more than they deserved.

The land acquisition process took place between 2011 and 2016. The two IAS officers had served as district magistrates of Udham Singh Nagar during this period.

Twenty people along with four Provincial Civil Services officials, have been arrested by the SIT in connection with the scam.

The orders issued by additional chief secretary Radha Raturi charged the two officials with paying compensations worth crores in violation to provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, the National Highway Act 1956, government orders and guidelines for disposal of land acquisition arbitration cases.

Pandey was accused of showing government land as private land, on the other hand Kumar showed agricultural land as non-agricultural to pay compensations worth crores of rupees to selected beneficiaries.