IAS officer's suspension: Kejriwal says politics has turned dirty

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal on Monday came out in support of suspended Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Durga Shakti Nagpal by saying that the decision of the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) Government in Uttar Pradesh clearly suggests that politics and politicians are turning dirty.

Kejriwal maintained that whistleblowers and honest officers are not allowed to do their job freely.

"Whatever took place with Durgaji is extremely wrong. She was raising her voice and acting against the sand mafia, this was her duty. How many officers are there in the country who are working honestly against corruption today? The government should be supporting these officers instead of suspending her," he told Asian News International (ANI) here.

Nagpal was the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Greater Noida at the time of her suspension

She was removed, ostensibly for ordering the demolition of a mosque being built illegally on government land.

Nagpal, 28, was suspended barely six months after getting her first posting in the state.

The Samajwadi Party Government has described the suspension of the 2009-batch IAS officer as an 'administrative decision', as her orders to demolish a mosque could cause communal tension.

Nagpal had cracked down on illegal mining in Greater Noida in the last few weeks, seizing nearly 300 trolleys of sand from the Yamuna river bed. She had also formed special flying squads to check the menace, rampant along the Yamuna and Hindon rivers in western Uttar Pradesh.

Several IAS officers have now come out in support of Nagpal, and asked the Chief Secretary to revoke her suspension.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan has said the decision will be reviewed, after the IAS officers' association protested.