He is understood to have also pointed out that it was in his then capacity as the state industrial development commissioner that he had directed the then Noida CEO Balwinder Kumar to fix the responsibility of the concerned officials.

However, Kumar was stated to have opined that the case involved 'collective responsibility' of a number of officials, following which Gupta asked then Meerut Divisional Commissioner Devendra Chaudhary to carry out an independent probe and fix the responsibility of each official. Chaudhary allegedly sat over the inquiry for about seven months.

Sources said Gupta is being targetted since the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) general secretary Satish Misra was keen to have a man of his choice installed as chief secretary in order to get a free hand in administrative matters.

However, despite repeated attempts, Misra was not available for comment on the issue.

'The chief minister's mandate was very clear - punish the guilty, but do not allow any innocent to be hanged,' said an official in the chief minister's office.