Dehradun, June 4 -- The Uttarakhand government, on Tuesday, suspended seven officials including two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and a Provincial Civil Service (PCS) officer for irregularities in the purchase of land under Haridwar Municipal Corporation (HMC), officials aware of the matter said. The matter pertains to the purchase of 2.3070 hectares of "unsuitable" land in November last year for Rs.54 crore near a garbage dump in Sarai village, officials added. "The land was converted from agricultural to non-agricultural (commercial) status under Section 143 of the UP Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act in a very short period, without following the due process. This led to the land price inflating from approximately Rs.13 crore to about Rs.54 crore," Shailesh Bagauli, secretary of home, said. Land-use changes typically undergo rigorous scrutiny and approval processes, taking months, Bagauli said. Three of the suspended officials are Karmendra Singh, Haridwar district magistrate and then administrator of HMC; Varun Chaudhary, additional secretary and then commissioner of HMC; and Ajayveer Singh, sub divisional magistrate Bhagwanpur and then SDM Haridwar. Four other HMC officials who were suspended include - senior finance officer Nikita Bisht, senior personal assistant Vicky, registrar Kanungo Rajesh Kumar, and chief administrative officer of Haridwar tehsil Kamal Das. Action has been taken against at least 12 officials. While 10 have been suspended, services of two others were terminated. The land irregularities came to light after chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered an investigation of the matter following complaints from Haridwar mayor and other sources. Dhami cancelled the land deal and ordered the state vigilance department to conduct a detailed investigation. He also ordered the recovery of the money given to landowners. Secretary (sugarcane and sugar) Ranveer Singh Chauhan, who was told to conduct a probe into the matter, submitted his report to the state government on May 29. Chief minister Dhami said, "From day one, our government has emphasised that public service is not about holding a 'position' but fulfilling a 'duty.' Accountability is paramount. Regardless of a person's seniority, if they violate rules or act against public interest, action will be taken. We are committed to building a new, corruption-free work culture in Uttarakhand, and all public servants must uphold these standards." Dhami had also directed a special audit of all work carried out in the Haridwar Municipal Corporation during the tenure of then-commissioner Varun Chaudhary, to ensure a thorough investigation of potential financial irregularities. "Our government has a policy of zero tolerance towards corruption and corruption will not be tolerated at any level," the chief minister said. Bagauli said, "The probe report stated that the purpose of purchasing the land was unclear. Secondly, there is a laid-down process for land acquisition. Some projects are site-specific....for example, if the PWD plans to build a road, the alignment is fixed, and the required land is identified accordingly. However, some projects are not site-specific, and for these, a due process for site selection must be followed. For projects costing above Rs.10 crore, a site selection committee, chaired by the district magistrate, is constituted. In this case, that procedure was not followed." The state earlier suspended Anand Singh Mishravan, assistant engineer (executive engineer in charge); Laxmikant Bhatt, tax and revenue superintendent; Dinesh Chandra Kandpal, junior engineer and terminated services of Ravindra Kumar Dayal, executive officer category-2 (assistant municipal commissioner in charge) and Ved Pal, property clerk -all serving under HMC....