The suspension of Bastar superintendent of police Mayank Shrivastava in connection with May 25 Darbha Maoist attack on Congress convoy in which 31 people were killed and an equal number of them injured, there is great discontentment among IPS cadre of Chhattisgarh.
Though top police officials are maintaining stoic silent over the issue, the simmering dissatisfaction among Indian Police Service officials can take ugly turn anytime in days to come.
Notably, bowing pressure created by the opposition Congress on the issue of lapse in security due to which Maoists were able to target the Congress convoy in which State Congress top leadership was wiped out, the State administration suspended Bastar SP Mayank Shrivastava while Collector Anbalgan P was simply transferred. IPS cadre sees strong IAS lobby behind the decision.
According to administration sources, the hasty manner in which the State Government suspended Bastar SP Mayank Shrivastava after the Darbha episode has sent wrong signal to IPS cadre. A police official talking to The Pioneer claimed that within half an hour after receiving the information of Darbha tragedy, Shrivastava reached Darbha even when a number of State cadre police officials and Thana In-charges were not ready to go to the incident site.
In this scenario, suspension of only SP while letting the collector off the hook has sent the message that now for any mishap senior police officials only would be held responsible. Some police officials alleged that Bastar district collector Anbalgan P has been simply transferred whereas it would have been appropriate that if the SP was suspended, collector should also have been suspended.
On the condition of anonymity, some officials even alleged that due to some IAS officials, police are facing difficulty in fighting insurgency effectively in Bastar. According to them, while holding the post of Bastar collector Anbalgan P never went on rural visit and following which subordinates of the collector also did not go ever on the visit of rural area giving Maoist insurgents ample chance to establish their influence even in the backyard of the divisional headquarters Jagdalpur.