NEW DELHI: Top police were left red faced on Sunday after CBI chief was caught on national television nodding off during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on the need for smart policing.
The top brass of the country’s police forces have gathered in the remote northeastern state of Assam this weekend for a major conference on national security issues.
During Modi’s address advocating the need for alert and accountable and reliable and responsive police, footage showed Central Bureau of Investigation director Ranjit Sinha nodding off several times.
“By ‘SMART’ policing, I mean S for strict but sensitive, M for modern and mobile, A for alert and accountable, R for reliable and responsive and T for techno-savvy and trained,” Modi told the officers.
Sinha, who heads the country’s top criminal investigating agency, was also filmed by many news channels catching some shut eye during the home minister’s speech on militant threats on Saturday.
A CBI spokeswoman did not comment on the footage, but added that Sinha had no health problems that would have caused him to drop off.
Sinha, who is just days from retirement, has been at the centre of a controversy over his agency’s probe into the sale of 2G telecom licences to businesses at throwaway prices.
The Supreme Court ordered him off the case earlier this month over allegations that he privately met with several people allegedly connec-ted to the scam, while the CBI investigation was ongoing.(AFP)