No communal tension-suspension orders beco'z she had gone after the sand mafia

LUCKNOW: A day after chief minister Akhilesh Yadav justified the suspension of IAS Durga Shakti Nagpal saying her orders had triggered communal tension in Rabupura, the local police in Gautum Budh Nagar on Monday deflated the CM's contention by stating that there was no communal flare-up in the area.

Adding credibility to the police claims is the fact that the government had not received any field report regarding communal tension in GB Nagar on Saturday. Sources in the state home department said such serious action is initiated against an officer only on the basis of a field report which outlines the need for urgency in such actions.

The government claimed Nagpal was suspended for demolishing an under-construction boundary wall of a mosque in Qadalpura village under Rabupura police circle on Saturday afternoon. Station Officer of Rabupura police station, senior sub inspector (SSI) Ajay Kumar, told TOI on Monday that all was well in the area.

'No communal tension in the area'

"There was no tension at all. You can verify it from mediapersons who were present here in GB Nagar. I have reasons to believe that not one of them was even aware of the demolition till Sunday night," Ajay Kumar said. Asked if there had been police deployment at the demolition site and if any criminal case had been lodged against mischief-mongers trying to fuel communal passions, the officer replied: "Jab kuchh hua hi nahi to case kis liye (Why would we lodge a case when nothing of this sort happened),"

Nagpal is widely perceived to have been suspended because she had gone after the sand mafia in GB Nagar in the last few months. During her drive against illegal mining, Nagpal had got 15 people arrested and arrest warrants issued against 22 others who went missing after raids. As many as 297 trucks and tractor-trolleys were found carrying loads from illegal mining. Rs 82.43 lakh had been collected as fine and challans.

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday had described Nagpal's suspension as an "administrative compulsion to ease communal tension" in Rabupura.

Sources at Rabupura police station said the demolition of the wall in question was so quiet an affair that the local police decided not even to mention it in the general diary (GD) of the police station — till Sunday afternoon at least. The GD happens to be one official document that records the minute-to-minute happenings within a police circle.

Meanwhile, sources in Lucknow said the suspension orders were issued at the instance of a senior Samajwadi Party leader. The politician got two secretaries to the chief minister to get the department of appointments opened around midnight on Saturday and issue suspension orders on their verbal directions. The CM, said sources, was also informed about the action being initiated against the IAS. TOI