A viral audio clip allegedly having conversation of a fixer with RAS officer Pankaj Ojha vanquished the video of raids conducted by Ojha on restaurants, godowns and eating joints during his drive against adulteration – Shudh Aahar Milawat par Waar.
Ojha, who is serving as additional commissioner in food safety department, had conducted multiple raids on eating joints and stores keeping adulterated food items, last year. He would expose them and upload videos on social media sites educating consumers. He had earned lot of name and fame on social media through those clippings where he had emerged as a hero fighting against the devils of adulteration.
Now a viral audio clip is in circulation where a fixer (agent) is in conversation with him and a stockist. The audio clip (The BuckStopper doesn't guarantee the authenticity of the clip) gives a strong signal that Ojha's raids were managed with ulterior motive. In the audio, the fixer claimed to have given money to Ojha in relation with some raid. He also asks Ojha to conduct raid on stockist keeping stock of Haryana Fresh.
The BuckStopper tried to contact Pankaj Ojha to ascertain the vericity of the audio clip doing rounds. But all messages and calls to Ojha went unanswered. We will update the story when Ojha comes up with his version of story.
Controversies are not new to Pankaj Ojha. There had been allegations of corruption against Ojha many times in the past.
During his tenure as commissioner Nagar Nigam Jaipur, Mayor Jyoti Khandelwal had alleged Ojha and few more officers of adopting corrupt practices. Similarly, when he was ADM Kota and revenue appellate authority (RAA), he had faced charges of corruption.
“He has been a controversial officer with good protective umbrella, which shields him from any punitive action. However, we can't judge him by audio clip as its authenticity is still not known,” said a senior RAS officer, who had worked with Ojha.
Pankaj Ojha is a 2001 batch RAS officer and had 30 postings so far in his career spanning around 24 years.
The BuckStopper, run by a group of seasoned journalists, holds the powerful accountable. The buck stops with them, as they cannot shrug off their official responsibilities.
