SENIOR COP SEEKS CHANGE

Asenior Maharashtra cadre IPS officer who once headed the Satyam scandal investigation has reportedly sought voluntary retirement, ostensibly to try his luck in politics. The 1990- batch officer and Additional DGP ( planning and coordination) V. V. Lakshminarayana has requested Director General of Police Satish Mathur to be relieved from the government at the earliest, by waiving off the three- month notice period. In the event his resignation is accepted, he will be the third IPS officer to quit and join politics.

Former Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh, a 1980 batch IPS officer, took voluntary retirement on January 31, 2014, and successfully contested the Lok Sabha elections as a BJP candidate from Baghpat, UP. Subsequently, he was inducted into the Narendra Modi Cabinet as minister of state for human resource. Additional director general ( special operations) P. K. Jain quit on February 28, 2014, and joined Ramdas Athavale- led RPI. After a brief period, he quit RPI and he is now a member of the Police Complaint Authority.

Some observers believe that Laxminarayana seemed to be unhappy over the manner in which he was side- lined in the state. He was posted as ADG ( administration) and later as ADG ( planning and coordination), both assignments are considered as “side- postings”.