Lucknow: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) intensified its crackdown on absconding economic offenders, arresting 28 wanted accused during a special statewide campaign, ‘Operation Shikanja’, officials said on Tuesday.EOW constituted eight special teams at headquarters and sector levels, supported by a central crack team, which carried out coordinated raids and surveillance-based arrests across Delhi and several districts of Uttar Pradesh.
“The scale and success of Operation Shikanja underline the EOW’s focus on economic offenders who exploit systemic loopholes and public trust,” an official spokesperson said.Among the most high-profile arrests was that of Neeraj Kumar Mishra, manager (administration and finance) of Shri Balaji Hitech Constructions Pvt Ltd, in connection with a Rs 100-crore real estate fraud in Ghaziabad.Mishra was arrested on Jan 9 from Gautam Budh Nagar.According to investigators, company directors, in collusion with bank officials, fraudulently allotted the same flat to multiple buyers, facilitated bank loans through manipulated documentation, and siphoned off funds.Mishra allegedly handled loan approvals, allotment letters, payment demands and customer relations.In another breakthrough, the EOW arrested 7 accused in connection with the 2018 recruitment scam conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UPSSSC) for 1,953 posts, including village development officers (VDOs), gram panchayat officers and social welfare supervisors.The recruitment process, executed through TCS Ltd, was marred by large-scale irregularities.EOW arrested six candidates who allegedly benefited from the manipulation, and one employee of a private firm, Umesh Pal, who served as assistant programmer and scanner-in-charge.The EOW also arrested Radheshyam Srivastava, a resident engineer under the Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP), in connection with the alleged embezzlement of Rs 7.15 crore meant for the construction of 534 C-Type housing units in Amethi.
