New ADG for Gorakhpur zone was BJP man during absence from service
KANPUR: Dawa Sherpa, a 1992batch Indian Police Service officer chosen to head Gorakhpur zone as additional director general of police, was a BJP leader and an aspirant for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat during his four-year ‘absence’ from the police force, some police officials, who refused to be named, alleged.
Sherpa was posted to Gorakhpur in the latest reshuffle of IPS officers. The decision sparked a controversy with the opposition calling the move a “reward for his services to the BJP”.
Sherpa is expected to assume charge on Monday. The officer could not be reached for his comment despite repeated attempts.
Officials said Sherpa was absent from service from 2008 to 2012 before he was regularised once again in 2013. He reportedly had applied for voluntary retirement in October 2008 when he was commandant, 2nd Battallion Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) in Sitapur, they said. He proceeded on long leave and was later deemed ‘gair hazir’ (absent) in police parlance.
In his case, the home department could not process his plea for voluntary retirement as he hadn’t completed 20 years in service to avail himself of VRS.
While absent from UP, Sherpa emerged on the political landscape in Darjeeling, his hometown, where he was vocal in Gorkhaland politics, officials said.
He formally joined the BJP and was appointed secretary of the party’s state unit, officials said, adding he was in contention for the party ticket for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat in 2009. Eventually, veteran leader Jaswant Singh won the seat.
For the next three years, Sherpa remained active in ‘Gorkhaland’ politics and became convener of the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League. He returned to UP in 2012. His services were regularised and he was given a promotion in 2013 as DIG.
Before being chosen to head the Gorakhpur police zone, he was ADG, crime branch, in the CID division, which had probed a case against the chief minister.
Former Uttar Pradesh police chief Vikram Singh, in whose tenure Sherpa became absent, said he had no moral right to remain in service. “It has to be investigated how he made it back to the service, throwing all service rules to the wind,” he said.
Many officers within UP police are surprised at this decision and cite Section 3-1 of All India Service Rules that absolute moral integrity is needed for public service. They said he represented a political ideology instead.
Samajwadi Party MLC Sunil Singh Sajan said it was for the first time that a party was appointing an officer to a key position for adhering to the ideology of the RSS.
The Congress demanded a high level inquiry.
“Chief minister Yogi Adityanath is trying to saffronise BJP for his own political gains,” said UPCC spokesman Zeeshan Haider in a press statement.
A UP home department officer, who didn’t wish to be named, said Sherpa joined service after leave in 2012 during the Samajwadi Party government. He served in various positions under the SP government but no one raised doubts over his credentials or ability then, the officer said.
Sherpa was posted in Kushinagar and other district in eastern Uttar Pradesh in the late 1990s, the officer said, adding he had now been posted in Gorakhpur zone because of his experience in the region.