Salaries of scores of home guards deployed in Noida were withdrawn despite them showing up for work only half of the time during May and June, prompting officials to launch a probe into the matter.

About Rs 7.5 lakh were withdrawn in salaries of these home guards, who reported on duty for only 50 percent of the times, while their attendance was marked for the entire period, officials said.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Vaibhav Krishna said the matter came to light in July when a platoon commander of the home guards unit here approached him with the allegations.

"A preliminary inquiry was done and the allegations were found true. This malpractice was found at seven police stations of Noida after which a larger inquiry has been ordered across all the police stations in the district," Krishna told PTI.

Explaining the modus operandi, he said, "Suppose a home guard turned up for work for 10 days, he was shown present on duty for 20 days in the attendance register of the district commandant of the home guard. The guard's salary was then withdrawn for 20 days, against his actual working of 10 days, and he would get a salary of only 10 days."

Part of the auxiliary force, the home guards are not permanent employees and are recruited on a casual basis. They do not have any fixed monthly salary and are paid based on the number of days of duty.

With the matter reaching Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh, O P Singh, SSP Krishna said Noida Police was in the process of registering an FIR in the case.

"Investigation has been ordered in the matter, an FIR is being registered. No involvement of local police has been found," he added.

There are about 375 home guards, including 10 women, deployed in Gautam Buddh Nagar. A maximum of 50 of them are attached to Traffic Police, while 10-15 home guards are deployed at each of the 23 police stations across Noida and Greater Noida, according to the officials.

The home guards in Uttar Pradesh do not enjoy privileges, including salary or treatment at par with police.

The Supreme Court had in July ordered a hike in the cost of deploying them. The daily allowance for the home guards is now Rs 672, up from the Rs 500 before the court order.

However, the state government later reduced the working days of home guards from 25 to just 15 in a month.