Chandigarh, Sept. 2 -- A vigilance inquiry has been initiated after a beldar, employed with the Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC), came out with explosive allegations that enforcement wing officials have been extorting Rs.50-60 crore annually from street vendors and shopkeepers across the city after threatening them of penalties, seizure, or eviction.

In his letter to the OSD (vigilance), the whistle-blower Vikas, who has been working with the MC for the last 18 years, alleged that over the last three years, while being deployed with an inspector, he was pressured to collect money from vendors and shopkeepers. When he refused, he was allegedly threatened with dismissal from service.

On August 12, Vikas had uploaded a video on social...