LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government has set up a departmental inquiry against Manzil Saini, an IPS officer of the 2005 batch of UP cadre, following the recommendation of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in a case related to the murder of an oil trader Shrawan Sahu in 2017.
Saini is currently on deputation in National Security Guard (NSG) as the deputy inspector general.
The Central Bureau of Investigation had recommended a departmental inquiry against then Lucknow SSP in connection with the high-profile murder case.
Highly placed police sources said that Additional Director General, Intelligence, Bhagwan Swaroop, and Superintendent of Police, Intelligence, Sanjeev Tyagi, will conduct an inquiry against Saini.
Saini was the Lucknow SSP when Shrawan Sahu, an oil mill owner, was murdered at Saadatganj in the old city area on February 1, 2017. Sahu was shot dead while he was pursuing a case against criminal Aquil for his role in the murder of his (Sahu) son Ayush in 2013. The case was transferred to the CBI.
CBI sources said that lapses in providing security cover to Shrawan Sahu despite his repeated requests and threats from criminal Aquil went unheard by Saini as Lucknow SSP.
However, CBI sources said that Saini in her reply had cited that the sudden transfer of then district magistrate, approaching elections, lack of police force and preparations of the Republic Day made them all occupied.
The pending CBI probe against Saini in the case of 2017 eclipsed her prospects for promotion in service while others of her batch were made IG, police.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had directed the CBI to probe Shrawan Sahu murder case on March 20, 2017. In May, the same year, the charge sheet was filed, and the trial is underway.
However, Saini also holds the unique distinction of being the first woman officer in the history of Uttar Pradesh to take charge as the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of state capital Lucknow in 2016. Before being posted as the SSP of Lucknow, Saini was posted in Etawah, the hometown of Samajwadi Party patriarch, the late Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Other than her alleged inaction in Shrawan Sahu murder case, Saini is known to be an upright officer and had been posted in Badaun, Muzaffarnagar and Mathura.
IPS Saini, who was posted as DIG, NHRC, was appointed DIG, National Security Guard (NSG), under the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2021.
Moreover, Saini is known to have unearthed several high-profile cases, including kidney theft racket case in Moradabad a few months after she got her first posting as SP in 2008.