CM sacks PCB chairman Abdi

LUCKNOW: Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday sacked UP Pollution Control Board chairman Javed Abdi and removed its secretary JS Yadav. Although no official reason was cited for the sudden move, sources say that the chief minister was unhappy about corruption charges leveled against the two.
Abdi was appointed the UPPCB chairman last year and was given a minister of state rank.However, he drew much attention when he was given the bungalow next to the chief minister’s at Kalidas Marg. Highly placed sources told TOI that that the CM was flooded with the complaints against Abdi who was allegedly putting pressure on those seeking NOC for setting up abattoirs in the state .One of the complaints said that he was blackmailing those who were desirous of opening slaughter houses.
He is the second chairman of UPPCB to be sacked in the past two years. Earlier, it was Wasim Ahmed who was removed on the same grounds. In both the cases, the CM office received complaints against them and the party MLAs the issue to the notice of the party chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav.