Uttar Pradesh ADG suspended after interview row

The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday confirmed the suspension of a 1992-batch Indian Police Service officer of Additional Director General rank, Jasvir Singh, for bemoaning the death of his career for taking on politicians, in an interview to the Huffington Post.

The UP police website shows that the ADG has been under suspension since February 14.

Singh, presently posted as ADG, Rules and Manual, had taken action against senior politicians like Yogi Adityanath and Raghuraj Pratap Singh aka Raja Bhaiya in 2002-03. Principal secretary (home) Arvind Kumar said that the ADG has been suspended for violation of code of conduct for government servants.

“Action was initiated against the ADG for two reasons — for making controversial statements in an interview to a news portal and for his unauthorised absence from duty since February 4. The officer went on leave without getting it sanctioned from competent authorities,” he added.

In the interview to Huffington Post on January 30, the ADG said that he was given dead-end postings in his career after he tried to hold politicians and ministers accountable. Alleging that politicians want police officers to remain loyal to them, Singh said: “This is totally unconstitutional.”

He claimed that he had done actual police work for only six months in a 26-year career.

In 2002, during his 16-day stint as the superintendent of police of Maharajganj, Singh initiated proceedings to invoke the National Security Act against present chief minister and then Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath in a case dealing with violation of prohibitory orders in 1995.

The move was soon scuttled and Singh, transferred out.

In 2003, during his tenure as the SP of UP police’s food cell, he accused then Samajwadi Party minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya of corruption in the multi-crore food scam in Lakhimpur Kheri.

Repeated attempts to contact Singh failed. His mobile phone was switched off.

First Published: Feb 19, 2019 23:46 IST