Mayawati was the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister from 2007 to 2012.
Highlights
- According to CAG, the sale caused a loss of Rs 1,179 crore to the state.
- Seven named in the FIR filed by the central probe agency on Thursday.
- They had allegedly submitted forged documents for buying the sugar mills.
The CBI has launched a probe into alleged irregularities in the sale of 21 state-owned sugar mills under the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party government in 2010-11. According to a report released by the Comptroller and Auditor General, the exercise caused a loss of Rs 1,179 crore to the state.
The Yogi Adityanath government had registered a case at the Gomti Nagar police station in 2017 before transferring it to the CBI in April the following year. Seven people were named in the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the probe agency on Thursday.
"Besides this, six preliminary enquiries have been registered against unknown people over alleged irregularities. The role of then political executives and bureaucrats is also being probed," a top CBI official told NDTV.
The probe agency has not named any politician or official of the Uttar Pradesh government in the list of accused, news agency PTI quoted sources as saying. The seven people charged in the FIR had allegedly submitted forged documents while purchasing the mills belonging to the Uttar Pradesh State Sugar Corporation Ltd, they added.
It is alleged that the Mayawati-led government sold the 21 mills - including 10 operational ones - below market price. The case was being probed by the Lucknow police.
(With inputs from PTI)