Soon after taking charge of Uttar Pradesh for the second term, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has started setting limits to what will not be tolerated in the state henceforth. On March 31, the state CM announced the first major administrative action by ordering suspension of Sonbhadra District Magistrate – TK Shibhu and Ghaziabad Superintendent of Police – Pawan Kumar. The two officials have been suspended on alleged charges of corruption, dereliction of duty and failure to control crime.
TK Shibhu is an IAS officer from 2012-batch. He has been suspended due to allegations of corruption in the mining in his district levelled by public representatives.
Pawan Kumar is an IPS officer from 2009-batch. He has been suspended following the allegations of dereliction of duty and failure to control crime in his region.
Speaking about the suspensions, Additional Chief Secretary (Information) Navneet Sehgal said, “On the direction of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Sonbhadra District Magistrate and Ghaziabad SSP have been suspended.”
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According to him, Ghaziabad SSP Pawan Kumar has been suspended for “dereliction of duty and failure to control crime.” As per a government spokesperson, Sonebhadra DM TK Shibu has been suspended for “anomalies in his work and negligence in resolving issues related to the public”.
If government sources are to be believed, the action is a message to the bureaucracy about the government’s pledge of “zero tolerance against corruption” and “zero tolerance against the failure to control crime”.
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has already ordered an inquiry into the charges levelled against Shibhu. Varanasi Commissioner is set to hold the inquiry.
Notably, elections took place in Sonbhadra in the last phase of the seven-phase Assembly elections. At that time, the district witnessed multiple protests by Samajwadi Party leaders. The Sub Divisional Magistrate was then suspended for dereliction of duty as part of Election Commission’s order.
