Ghaziabad police officer misbehaves with Maneka, probe on

The Uttar Pradesh government ordered a probe after SSP Ghaziabad reportedly misbehaved with union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi.

The minister had called up SSP Dharmender Yadav after an inspector of a police station refused to lodge a complaint of her organisation People for Animals (PFA).

However, the SSP not only refused to take Maneka's repeated calls but also used derogatory language July 12 when she could connect to him and talk about the predicament of animal rights activists in the district.

The peeved minister then wrote to local MP and union minister General (Retd) V.K. Singh who forwarded her letter to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

Taking cognisance of the complaint, the state government asked IG Meerut Range Alok Sharma to conduct a probe and send the report to Anita Singh, principal secretary to the chief minister, within three days.

Subsequently, the IG assigned the inquiry to DIG K. Satyanarayan who Aug 14 instructed the SSP to ask the Kavinagar police station in-charge to be present before him Aug 18 at 11.00 a.m.

The DIG also asked the SSP to ensure the presence of PFA activists Saurabh Gupta and Ruchin Mehra before him for recording their statements.

Activist Gupta said the PFA and the police had July 12 raided Bhagirath Public School where a langoor was kept in a small cage for the past three years.

However, the Kavinagar police received a call from the SSP when they were documenting the legal procedures.

Following the call, the police not only refused to register a case but put activist Mehra in the lockup. He was later released with a warning that he will be booked on extortion charges if he remained an animal activist. Moreover, no case was registered against the school.

Meanwhile, Anita Singh's letter to principal secretary (home) Deepak Singh has asked for completion of the inquiry into the SSP's alleged misbehaviour at the earliest.

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region and External Affairs Gen. V.K. Singh, in a July 15 letter to Akhilesh Yadav, complained about the SSP's arrogant behaviour.

"I am really pained by the behaviour of the SSP, especially towards a union minister...," Gen. V.K. Singh wrote.

Gupta said: "We have recorded our statements before the IG Aug 23, mentioning about the SSP misbehaviour with PFA activists, especially after Maneka's telephonic talks and Gen. V.K. Singh's letter to the chief minister in which he had appreciated the working of former SSP Sachi Ghildiyal."