Tweets could be a ‘conspiracy’: UP cops
NOIDA: Senior officials of Uttar Pradesh police on Saturday indicated that there was a ‘conspiracy’ behind the tweets and messages circulated on Whatsapp, alleging ‘monthly collections’ by the Noida crime branch.
Senior officials said that the Special Operations Group were being targeted since the crime branch was coming down hard on criminals.
The messages about the alleged bribery went viral on May 18. They alluded to an alleged net- work of beneficiaries, including senior ranked officers. The messages also made public a list of local traders who were allegedly paying bribes to police officers.
Following the circulation of the messages on social media, the head of the special weapons and tactics (SWAT) wing of the crime branch, two constables and 13 other members of the SWAT unit were relieved of their duties and sent to the Police Lines by Dr Ajay Pal Sharma, the senior superintendent of police (SSP), Gautam Budh Nagar.
“Because the special operation group of Gautam Budh Nagar has been taking a lot of action against criminals, we are not ruling out a conspiracy angle. It could be an act to malign the image of the personnel and the officers. In any case, we are not taking any chances and have initiated an inquiry by the SP (city) of Noida. The personnel will be at Police Lines, pending inquiry and absolution of charges,” said Anand Kumar, additional director general (law & order), said.
“We have already initiated an inquiry. The two persons whose names were taken in this connection have given their denial of sending such posts to us in writ- ing. They have said that someone could have misused their IDS or created fake IDS to forge a rift between the officers and the personnel. They have given their phones for analysis also,” Kumar added.
Political parties and senior administration officials, meanwhile, criticised the circulation of the tweet and messages.
Opposition parties said that corruption and incidents of encounters had increased in the police department following the support of chief minister Yogi Adityanath.