The suspension of a woman IAS officer, who cracked down on sand mafia, has snowballed into a controversy with IAS association today meeting the officiating chief secretary and demanding its revocation.
"We went to meet the chief secretary and demanded revocation of the suspension. He said that he will look into it," secretary of the IAS association Parthsarathi Sen Sharma said.
Durga Shakti Nagpal, the 2009-batch IAS officer, posted as Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Gautam Budh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, also accompanied the association members for the meeting.
Officiating Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan said the entire matter would be put before Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
The Chief Minister is currently not in the state. He has gone to Bangalore, where he and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav are scheduled to address a rally.
The officer had clamped down on illegal mining and taken on powerful sand mafia in Uttar Pradesh. She was suspended barely 10 months after she got her first posting in the state.
On the suspension of 28-year-old Nagpal, the state government said in a statement that she was suspended for getting a wall at a disputed place of worship removed without following legal process.
"SDM Nagpal has been suspended for getting wall of a mosque removed without following legal process in an unforesighted manner which affected the communal atmosphere," a government spokesman had said here.
He said during suspension, Nagpal would remain attached to the Revenue Board.
Slamming the SP government, opposition parties have alleged that the suspension order was made under pressure from the mining mafia.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Digvijay Singh alleged that the sand mafia is running governments in UP and Madhya Pradesh.
"Sand Mafia is operating not only under the present government in UP but also under the previous regime. This is the same sand mafia, which is working in Madhya Pradesh.
"The sand mafia is running governments in UP and MP," Singh told reporters in Delhi.
