Transfer of two IPS officers sparks row

Government set to make amends in one case

LUCKNOW: The posting of two IPS officers, one to his home district Ballia against service rules and the other to Bijnore (on the alleged recommendation of a legislator), sparked a controversy, people familiar with the matter said.

The two officers were among the 43 IPS officers shifted on Saturday.

After the row, director general of police OP Singh said the state government will cancel Rahul Raj’s posting as the Ballia SP. A new officer will be posted in the district soon, he said.

A home department officer too said, “Under service rules, officers are not posted in their home districts. The transfer of Rahul Raj to Ballia will be amended.”

Rahul Raj was SP Crime in the DGP headquarters before he was shifted to Ballia. Later it was found that Ballia was his home district, an official said.

It was alleged the other officer, Umesh Kumar Singh, was transferred from Gonda in eastern UP to Bijnore in western UP as the district police chief on the request of Sushant Kumar, the BJP MLA from Barhapur (Bijnore).

The MLA’s purported letter to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, requesting that Singh be posted as the Bijnore SP, was circulated on the social media on Sunday.

Sushant Kumar denied writing the letter to the chief minister.

He described the letter as fake and claimed it was circulated on the social media by his “adversaries”.

“My name in the affidavit submitted with the nomination papers (for 2017 assembly polls) is Sushant Kumar whereas in the letter my name has been mentioned as Kunwar Sushant Kumar Singh. I will urge the state government to inquire into the case and take appropriate action against the offenders,” he said.

Umesh Kumar Singh is a 2005batch IPS officer. He replaced Prabhakar Chaudhary who was sent to Mathura as the SSP. Lallan Singh, Commandant, special area security force, Lucknow, was made the Gonda SP.

A home department officer said all the officers were posted on merit.