After serving the Police department for over 22 long years, Basant Rath, a 50 year old 'flamboyant' suspended IPS officer of 2000 batch, Sunday announced his decision to 'permanently' hang his uniform before taking a plunge in the electoral politics of Kashmir.
He is often seen in 'black dress' and seldom wore uniform after locking horns with his superior officers.
Rath, who remained very active on his twitter timeline and posted 'cryptic' messages which triggered debates and invited wrath of netizens, once again chose the platform where he shared his wish list to resign from the Indian Police service.
He wrote, 'Politics is a noble profession' while uploading a signed copy of his resignation letter. “I wish to resign from the Indian Police Service in order to be able to participate in electoral politics. “Please consider this letter as my request for resignation/ voluntary retirement and process it accordingly … ,”
The letter, dated June 25, 2022, was addressed to the Chief Secretary, Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and was also marked to The Director General of Police, J&K and he Commandant General Home Guard and SDRF.
Hours before uploading his resignation letter, Rath had dropped clear hints claiming he wanted to join electoral politics. “If I ever join a political party, it will be BJP. If I ever contest an election, it will be from Kashmir. If I ever join politics, it will be before March 6, 2024.
Rath attracted attention of the local media and netizens,especially from Kashmir valley during his stint as IG, Traffic in Jammu and Kashmir. He was also running a book club and distributed books,free of cost to the needy students and aspirants studying for the Union Public Service examination. In July 2020,the Ministry of Home Affairs had placed him under suspension in connection with repeated instances of gross misconduct and misbehaviour.
Earlier, in the last week of June 2020, Rath had filed a written complaint, in his personal capacity and not as a policeman, against Jammu and Kashmir police Chief, Dilbagh Singh, stating that Singh poses a threat to his safety and reputation.
While serving the department he adopted 'unorthodox' means and also invited public wrath while he went around kicking motorbikes parked on the roadside. In March 2020, the government had taken serious note of another act of indiscipline when he forcibly shifted kashmiri students, stranded at a quarantine centre in Jammu, to a nearby hotel in his official vehicle.
In November 2018, he was shunted out of the traffic department shortly after a spat with the then Mayor of Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Junaid Azim Mattu on a social media platform.