Woman IPS officer row: Yogi calls BJP MLA to Lucknow

GORAKHPUR Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has called BJP MLA Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, who drew criticism for having allegedly publicly humiliated woman IPS officer Charu Nigam, to Lucknow.

The chief minister spoke to Agarwal on the phone after which the MLA ended his sit-in against unlicensed liquor shops in Gorakhpur at 3.30pm instead of 4pm on Wednesday as scheduled earlier.

In Lucknow, Agarwal will hand over to the chief minister a memorandum seeking action against the unlicensed liquor vends. The CM’s intervention came on a day on which Agarwal issued a stern warning to senior police officials.

“If you fail to act against the woman IPS officer for violation of service rules, I will raise the issue in the assembly following which not only will Charu Nigam lose her job, but also the skin of you all will be removed,” the lawmaker warned the inspector general of police (IGP), deputy inspector general and senior superintendent of police (Gorakhpur).

He issued the warning while staging the sit-in beneath the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Town Hall in the city.

On Sunday, Agarwal asked the Indian Police Service officer not to “cross limits” after police attempted to remove anti-liquor protesters in his constituency, also the base of chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

The MLA’s alleged abrasive behaviour had left the police officer teary eyed, although she later said it should not be seen as a sign of weakness. On Wednesday, Agarwal asked senior police officials to go through Nigam’s Facebook posts in order to book her for violation of service rules. “A government official, no matter how big his status is or which department he belongs to, has no right to express his views openly through newspapers or the social media,” he said.

The MLA was referring to a series of Facebook posts by Nigam in which she has hit out at the lawmaker. Agarwal also questioned her womanhood.

“This IPS officer, who calls herself a woman doesn’t even have traces of womanhood, I believe. If she had, she would never have kicked a five-month pregnant woman, snatched an eight-year-old boy from his mother to push him into a pit and beaten up a 70- year-old,” he said.

Agarwal, who received a memorandum against the sale of liquor, asked the police not to consider themselves above the law.

“You police officials will have to learn to serve the people if you wish to stay in Gorakhpur,” he said.

Agarwal, popularly called RMD, earlier on Monday accused the police of providing patronage to liquor mafia across the city.

Hitting out at the electronic media for allegedly projecting him in a poor light post the Charu Nigam incident, he said they seemed to be afflicted with some mental illness.

“The electronic channels are showing reports which say ‘Why Radha Mohan Das not suspended by BJP?’ They became sycophants of a woman IPS officer but didn’t bother to show the pain of those women who faced atrocities at the hands of the police,” he said.

He, however, hailed the print media for objective reporting.

Agarwal also requested the media not to hype his protest as a conflict between him and the government when asked about the reason behind his action when his own party was in power.

He added that as a public representative it was his duty to raise the voice of people.

Meanwhile, the BJP distanced itself from the MLA’s sit-in. Barring a few party workers, no senior functionary extended support to him.

Governor Ram Naik, who reached Gorakhpur to attend a function, said chief minister Yogi Adityanath had taken note of the matter.