Nine employees of the Haryana Urban Development Authority,working in the Hisar office were today sentenced to seven years rigorous-imprisonment each under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Besides the imprisonment,all the accused were ordered to pay a fine of Rs 10,000 each. Those sentenced were Hari Chand Girdhar,Superintendent Om Prakash Manju JE,clerks Jagmohan,Madhu Bala,Rajrani,Devi Lal,Baljit Singh,Jogi Ram Dillon dispatch clerk and poen Subhash. Another employee of the department,Balraj in the same case,was declared a Proclaimed Offender by the court on September 30 last year. They accepted the bribe ranging between Rs 50 to Rs 500 in 2006,the prosecution said. According to the prosecution,Ram Avtar and his partner had purchased a plot in Mela Ground sector in Hisar and they wanted to transfer the name in their favour but the employees of HUDA department demanded money for this. A social worker Ramesh Verma and his team conducted a sting operation and took the photos of the accused accepting the bribe. After inquiry by Flying squad of Chief Minister,a case under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered in the civil line police station here in 2006. The Judge sentenced them five years rigorous imprisonment each. Both the sentenced shall run concurrently,the court directed.
