Bihar sacks 95 corrupt officers, more to go

Vigilance department, till now has chargesheeted 856 public servants for corruption

Showing zero tolerance against corruption, the Bihar government has sacked 95 corrupt officials and will dismiss 21 more this month and 129 in March, it was announced Friday.

"The government has begun taking action against corrupt officers," Chief Secretary A.K. Sinha told reporters.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had ordered speedy investigation against the corrupt in the government.

In bribery cases, action against corrupt officers includes removal from service, Sinha said.

He added that the government would also act against officials found to be protecting their corrupt colleagues.

Till now, the vigilance department has chargesheeted 856 public servants for corruption.

The latest dismissals came after departmental proceedings established corruption charges against them.

In the last one month, the Economic Offences Unit of Bihar Police raided half-a-dozen officers in Patna and elsewhere in the state and found assets worth crores of rupees disproportionate to their known income.

The Bihar government has initiated the process of confiscating property of half-a-dozen officials.

The government has seized the houses of an IAS officer, an IPS officer and a treasury clerk in Patna and handed them over to schools.