Cop who knelt at UP CM’s feet says he did so ‘because of faith’

After photographs of a police officer in uniform kneeling down at chief minister Adityanath’s feet on the occasion of Guru Purnima at the Gorakhnath temple went viral on social media, the officer said that his “faith” in Adityanath prompted him to act in the manner he did.

The CM is also ‘Mahant’ (head priest) of the Gorakhnath temple.

The officer, Praveen Singh, is posted as circle officer of Gorakhnath area. The pictures went viral moments after Singh himself shared them on Facebook.

His action drew sharp criticism from citizens who dubbed it an insult to the police uniform, while many others called it the “height of sycophancy”.

Speaking to reporters, Singh said, “I was deployed at the temple to maintain law and order due to a huge rush of devotees turning up to seek the CM’s blessings. When there were very few people left, I took off my cap, belt and put a handkerchief on the head to seek the blessings of the CM who was at the time acting as the temple’s peethadheeshwar.

I did so because I have faith in him. I have been visiting the temple to worship Guru Gorakhnath, to seek his blessings (in order) to perform my duty and serve the nation with honesty and dedication.”

“My shirt was wet with sweat and I had not ignored my work. Mahant Yogi sits in the position of a guru on two occasions in the temple. It was just out of my devotion towards Baba Gorakhnath and nothing else,” he added.According to PTI report, IG, civil defence, Amitabh Thakur ) said the police manual was not very clear on this count. “This is a grey area and can be interpreted either way. HTC