EC orders transfer of key bureaucrats, senior police officials in Telangana

Director of Prohibition and Excise Department Musharaff Faruqui, and Secretary of Transport K S Srinivasa Raju were among the bureaucrats whose duties stand transferred

In the run-up to the Telangana Assembly elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered the transfer of four district collectors, 13 senior police officers including the Hyderabad police commissioner, and three other bureaucrats, The Indian Express (IE) has reported.

The Commission has instructed these officers, including the commissioners and superintendents of police to hand over the charge to their respective posts to their immediate junior officers and report to the government for further orders. The transfers came into force with immediate effect, the IE report said.

District collectors Vinay Kumar Reddy of Yadadri-Bhuvanagari, K Varun Reddy of Nirmal, Harish Reddy of Rangareddy, and D Amoy Kumar of Medchal-Malkajgiri are among the officers who have received the transfer orders from ECI. Besides, the director of the Prohibition and Excise Department Musharaff Faruqui, Commissioner of Commercial Taxes T K Sridevi, and Secretary of Transport, K S Srinivasa Raju were among the bureaucrats whose duties stand transferred, the report added.

This comes after the Election Commission's team paid a recent visit to the state, and the opposition parties had raised the issue of the government abusing its powers in Telangana. The opposition in the state has earlier accused the BRS government of letting several officers continue in their posts beyond retirement and letting their favourite bureaucrats continue in the same position without any transfers.

The opposition also alleged that these officers turned their backs on issues like the distribution of money during recent by-elections. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee had even warned that it will prepare of list of such officers to institute an inquiry against them after it assumes power in Telangana, The Indian Express report stated.

The elections in Telangana will be conducted on November 30 and results will be declared on December 3. In a recent press conference, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar declared the schedule of elections in the five poll-bound states: Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Mizoram, and Telangana.