Former State Congress president, Rita Bahuguna Joshi gave 48 hours ultimatum to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to remove Director General of Police (DGP) Arvind Kumar Jain from the post and start proceeding to get his extension cancelled. She also demanded an enquiry into the matter and action against Home Secretary, if he conceal the fact that sleuths of Crime Branch Crime Investigation Department (CB CID) had sought prosecution sanction order to initiate criminal proceedings against Jain in connection with arson in Rita’s home.
“I think , the State Home Department had covered up the entire issue and they have hide the entire incident from chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav particularly about CB CID’s letter in which they sought to prosecute Jain in connection with my house’s arson case,” asserted Rita Bahuguna Joshi, while confirming that she wrote a letter to the CM and gave him 48-hours to remove Jain from DGP’s post and get extension of AK Jain cancelled, besides initiating action against the home secretary, if the officer had not put correct facts before chief minister.
Talking to reporters here on Wednesday evening, Joshi, a MlA from lucknow Cantonment Assembly segment, said that the CM should scrap the three months extension given to Jain besides a FIR should be registered against him as per the recommendation by the CB-CID. “ If a MlA and former UP Congress president, who is daughter of former chief minister, get such justice from the government, then anyone can think the common person would get,” she questioned while giving two days to Akhilesh to act. “If chief minister failed to respond, than she would reveal further course of action particularly, if she would knock the door of the court to get AK Jain removed or not”, she said adding that if Jain would continued on DGP’s post, fate of recommendation of CB CID officials is any ones guess.
Rita Bahuguna further said that in her knowledge, when state government recommended extension of Jain, the Department of Training and Promotion in the Centre had turned down the proposal. Even the secretary of the Union Public Service Commission refused to give permission for extension after which the state government’s recommendation was sent back. However, when fresh recommendation was made and how the prime minister’s office gave clearance in less than a week’s time, all pointed that how Jain used his position to remain on the top post, and get the matter against him (in Rita’s case) dumped.
On Tuesday, soon after A K Jain was granted three-month extension as DGP, a social activist released a letter purportedly sent by the Crime Branch-CID to the state government seeking permission for lodging a case against the senior IPS officer for allegedly not taking immediate action to stop the incident of arson at the house of Congress leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi in 2009. Jain was then posted as IG (lucknow Range). The letter, sent by SP (CB-CID, lucknow) to Secretary (Home) Mani Prasad Mishra — which was released by social activist Nutan Thakur — is dated March 30, 2015.
It seeks permission for lodging a case against Jain under IPC Section 119 (public servant concealing design to commit offence which it is his duty to prevent). It has also demanded that Jain should be removed from his post. In the letter, the SP has mentioned that the evidence collected during the investigation of a case lodged at Hussainganj police station in connection with the arson at Joshi’s house also reveals the names of police officers and officials who were involved in the incident.
Pointing the role played by Jain, the letter says that as then IG, the IPS officer gave arson in VIP area less importance and instead went to Thakurganj where a woman had been evicted by her landlord. The letter claims that Jain had given a statement that he got a call from the woman, Savita Gupta, at midnight when he was near the personal residence of chief minister in Mall Avenue after leaving his residence. As per the statement, Jain, at that time was on way to Joshi’s residence, but instead decided to visit Gupta’s house.