Lucknow,  The Yogi Adityanath government has directed the Special Task Force (STF) to probe graft charges against the vice-chancellor of Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur, Vinay Pathak, who has been accused of extorting Rs 1.4 crore for clearing of bills from a company conducting examinations, along with his aide Ajay Mishra.

The STF has arrested Ajay Mishra in connection with the incident.

The owner of the private company conducting exams, David Mario Danish of Jankipuram, lodged a case with the Indira Nagar police station on Saturday.

According to Danish, he paid the money to Mishra at the insistence of the V-C during his stint with Agra university.

David's company had been working with the Agra university from 2014-15 to 2020.

During the tenure of Pathak as vice-chancellor of Agra university, he conducted work related to exams as per a contract that the university signed with his company.

David alleged that to get his pending dues cleared, he had met Pathak at his residence at Kanpur university to plead for clearance of the bill and was told after a series of negotiations that he will have to pay a commission of 15 per cent through his agent Ajay Mishra.

Following this, he paid Rs 1.41 crore to Mishra.

"But his company was blacklisted, and he was also threatened with dire consequences," said David in his FIR to the police.

Police have registered the FIR under the charges of extortion, threatening and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code against Vinay Pathak and his aide Ajay Mishra.