IPS officer-MLA face-off: Call for action against lawmaker

Lucknow: The public snub to a woman IPS officer by a BJP MLA in Gorakhpur on Monday seemed to have snowballed into a major controversy with the ruling party lawmaker deciding to stage protest and the IPS officers’ body condemning the incident as “interference in law enforcement”.
The matter also led to a face-off between the government and bureaucrats with Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya backing MLA Radha Mohan Das Aggarwal and an IG-rank police officer demanding that the IPS Association act in the matter.
Condemning the incident against the ASP, Gorakhpur, the IPS Association said, “If interference in law enforcement goes unpunished, the ability of police to protect people gets eroded.” A delegation of the UP IPS Association led by its president Praveen Singh met Chief Secretary Rahul Bhatnagar on Monday night and demanded strong action against those involved in the incident and ensure such incidents did not recur.
Bhatnagar assured the delegation that their concerns would be conveyed to higher authorities. A day after the MLA from Gorakhpur Urban seat was accused of misbehaving with IPS officer Charu Nigam, he said on Monday that he would sit under the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Gorakhpur’s Town Hall area on May 10 to gather the grievances of the public vis-a-vis illegal liquor outlets. “I will sit under the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Town Hall area on May 10 to hear the grievances of the public, who are fed up with the operation of illegal liquor outlets,” he said. UP IPS Association secretary Prakash D said the association has sought detailed report of the incident from field officers in Gorakhpur. (PTI)