UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who is still grappling with the banner of revolt raised by 18 members of his Cabinet,is now likely to encounter a similar protest from the IPS lobby in the state.
Akhilesh, who also holds the Home portfolio,had shunted out some 20 officers from key posts and attached them to the DGP’s office at the state police headquarters here.
In addition to the unceremonious manner of their exit, the officers have been stripped of their powers. And they have been bundled into undignified jobs, with no salary, no office, no official vehicle and not even an official phone. The irony in all this is that majority of these officers have been known for their unimpeachable honesty and unblemished track record. And a case in point is that of former ADGP(Law and Order) Arun Kumar, who was removed from his post last month.
As STF chief, Kumar had carried out a daring operation against dreaded mafia don Shri Prakash Shukla which resulted in his death. The mafioso had threatened to eliminate a Chief Minister, who had roped in Kumar to rid the state of the history-sheeter.
Later, Kumar made his mark as CBI Joint Director before returning to UP, where he found it difficult to get on with the SP Government. As a result, he sought an NOC from the state government to return to the Centre. However, irked by the move the SP Government punished Kumar by removing him from his post.
Similarly, Subrat Tripathi – a DGP rank officer and an IPS topper – had been DG,Economic Offences Wing (EOW) prior to his removal from the post.
As DG, EOW he had exposed the misdeeds of the trust jointly run by Union Minister Salman Khurshid and his wife in Farrukhanad and also chargesheeted half-a- dozen former BSP ministers which landed them in jail.
However, when Tripathi laid his hands on a few powerful IAS and IPS officers, who were very close to the powers be, over their alleged involvement in the orchestrated recovery of fake currency from a Congress leader he was shunted out.
Tripathi has not been keeping well lately and these days he moves around with the help of walkers after having undergone a major surgery.
And D C Mishra, Deepak Kumar, Vijay Yadav, S C Pandey, J K Shahi, Manjil Saini, R P Pandey, Subhash Dubey and Heera Lal are some of the police officers, who have been rendered jobless on account of the state government’s whimsicalities.
“Yes, if we have to go somewhere we have to request somebody to give his car to me “, regretted one of the officers attached to the state police headquarters, adding that it is a humiliating experience for the IPS officers.
“Did we pass the All-India exam for this shameful day,” said another officer, who said anyone could see their service record. Speaking to Express, an office-bearer of the UP IPS Officers Association lamented the manner in which the SP Government had humiliated senior officers. “If the officers had committed any grave offence, the government had the right to suspend them, but keeping them jobless and without salary is painful and agonising.”
He also said it was true that none of the officials had formally approached the association to seek its intervention on the matter.