Ghaziabad: GMC’s water works department has issued show-cause notices to two of its employees for allegedly defrauding an 80-year-old man of Rs 8,200 on the pretext of providing a water pipeline connection.An official from the water works department said notices were issued to Rajendra and Kishan Pal Singh, asking them to respond within two days, after which action will be initiated.About a month ago, octogenarian Jaipal Singh, a resident of Lal Quarter, had applied for reinstallation of a water pipeline at his house after it was damaged during road repair.According to a neighbour, two GMC employees visited his house soon after and assured him the work would be completed within two days. They allegedly demanded Rs 8,200 from him for the work.However, the work was not carried out even after a week had passed. Singh later visited the GMC office at Navyug Market, but his complaint was not addressed. “He managed to find out the names of the employees who had visited his house, but nothing happened as his complaint was not taken seriously,” the neighbour added.The neighbour alleged that the two employees again visited Singh’s house, threatened him, pressured him to withdraw the complaint and refused to return the money.Jaipal, meanwhile, made at least three more visits to the GMC office. This was when the matter finally reached high-ranking officials of GMC’s water works department and notices were issued to the two employees.Officials said water connections provided by GMC are free of cost and the employees were not authorised to handle the complaint as they were posted in another zone. Allegations of threats are also being examined, officials added.In a separate incident last month, GMC suspended two of its clerks, Prem Pal and Ramesh, for allegedly forging the mayor’s signature to waive charges for the use of GMC’s community hall.
