22 police officials transferred in UP

The Uttar Pradesh government Thursday conducted a major shake up of the police force and transferred 22 Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, including Lucknow Senior Superintendent of Police J. Ravinder Gaur, officials said.

Gaur has been replaced by Praveen Kumar as SSP.

Seven deputy inspectors general (DIG) have also been changed.

Sanjeev Gupta was made DIG Gorakhpur, D.C. Mishra DIG Moradabad, Satyendra Veer Singh DIG Aligarh, Vijay Prakash DIG Varanasi and N. Ravinder DIG Provincial Armed Constabulary headquarters.

Inspectors general of police (IGP) of five zones have also been changed. These include IGs of Meerut, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Bareilly and Allahabad.

This is the first major shake up of the force after the government appointed Rizwan Ahmad as the DGP.

The government of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has been facing charges of breakdown of law and order in the state. Added to it were the communal riots and clashes across the state which have left over 70 dead in the past 18 months.