Acting Jharkhand DGP Anurag Gupta
Credit: X/@BureaucratsInd
Ranchi: Ahead of the Jharkhand polls, the Election Commission on Saturday directed the state government to remove Acting Director General of Police (DGP) Anurag Gupta from his post with immediate effect due to a "history" of complaints against him in previous elections, sources said.
The Jharkhand Assembly elections will be held in two phases -- November 13 and 20.
The decision to remove Gupta was based on a history of complaints and action taken by the Commission against him during previous elections, the sources said.
As an interim, the charge of the DGP will now be handed over to the senior most DGP-level officer in the cadre, they said.
The state government has also been asked to submit a panel of names of senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers by October 21 morning to enable the EC to pick an officer to be named the next DGP.
The state government has to submit a compliance report of these directions by this evening.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Gupta was relieved of his duties as ADG (Special Branch), Jharkhand, following allegations of biased conduct made by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).
He was reassigned to the resident commissioner's office in Delhi and barred from returning to Jharkhand until the election process was completed, the sources recalled.
During the Rajya Sabha elections from Jharkhand in 2016, Gupta, then an additional DGP, faced serious charges of misuse of authority.
The Commission had formed an inquiry committee following which a charge sheet was issued to him for departmental enquiry.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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