Reinstate IAS officer who took on UP mafia: RLD

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) general secretary Jayant Chaudhary Thursday criticised the Uttar Pradesh government for suspending Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Durga Shakti Nagpal who reportedly took on the sand mafia and demanded her reinstatement.

"The state government is under pressure from the mafia. It acts at the behest of vested interests," Chaudhary said in a statement.

"I demand that the officer be reinstated immediately," he said.

The RLD is a partner of the United Progressive Alliance at the centre.

The RLD MP also said that the move by the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh would affect the morale of other officers too.

"The suspension has affected the morale of the bureaucracy in the state. If you ask officers who have served in the state and are now working in the central government whether they would like to go back, they will say no," Chaudhary said.

Alleging that "Akhilesh Yadav has failed on all fronts", Chaudhary said: "The UP government should depoliticise the bureaucracy and initiate urgent police and administrative reforms in the state."