Express News Service
LUCKNOW: After assuming office, UP CM Yogi Adityanath has got into action mode against corrupt officers which resulted in suspension of not only IPS Pawan Kumar, SSP Ghaziabad, but also an IAS officer TK Shibu, the district magistrate of Sonbhadra, on Thursday.
In case of Ghaziabad SSP, the incident of loot of Rs 25 lakh from a petrol pump three days ago in the district proved costly to the police chief and he was suspended for alleged dereliction of duty by the UP government on Thursday evening.
The axe fell on Senior Superintendent of Police of Pawan Kumar for his “failure” to control the crime in Ghaziabad, the district bordering the national capital.
Three days ago, three bike-borne robbers had looted Rs 25 lakh from the staffers of a petrol pump located in B Block of Govindpuram Colony under the Masuri police station area in the NCR district while they were going to a bank to deposit the money.
A video of the incident had also gone viral on social media in which the miscreants were seen opening fire on the petrol pump employees.
In a statement issued here, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said: “The SSP, Ghaziabad, has been suspended for dereliction of duty and the failure to control crime.” An IPS officer of the 2009 batch, Pawan Kumar was posted in Ghaziabad in August last year.
As per the highly placed sources, there were reports of lackadaisical approach of the IPS officer towards the public issues.
After the initial probe, prime facie the SSP’s laxity was allegedly established as a result of which he got the suspension. Before Ghaziabad, Pawan Kumar was helming Moradabad as SSP.
However, his first posting was as SP City Agra followed by Shamli in western UP, Chitrakoot in Bundelkhand, Jaunpur in eastern UP, Unnao, Sitapur and Sultanpur in central UP.
As per the local sources, after the incident of loot, there has been an atmosphere of fear and panic among the traders of the city.
On the other, earlier in the day, Sonbhadra DM TK Shibu was also served the suspension order as there were complaints of corruption against him as well.
The official sources said that Shibu had been on the state government’s radar even before the assembly polls following complaints in connection with illegal mining and other related issues.
In the suspension order, ACS Devesh Chatruvedi said: “Against Sonbhadra DM, issues of corruption in mining, district mineral trust committee and public works had come to light. Moreover, during the recently concluded Assembly polls, Shibu was accused of laxity in performance of his duties as District Election Officer. These charges were got probed by the divisional commissioner of Mirzapur Division and prima facie Sonbhara DM was found to be guilty of the wrongdoings. So his is being suspended with immediate effect.”
The order also mentioned that during the suspension, Shibu will reamin attached to Revenue Board in state capital and he would have to seek prior permission for leaving the headquarter.