A Uttar Pradesh IPS officer who dared to speak out against corruption in his Fire Services department and said some unpleasant things about the government to mediapersons has virtually been declared “mentally unstable” on the basis of a report prepared by psychiatrists.
DIG Devendra Dutt Mishra, who was forcibly admitted to the Trauma Centre of the Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University (CSSMU) here, has been charged with violating the Service Conduct Rules, but no action has been taken against him.
Probe ordered
An inquiry launched by the government on Saturday will look into all his allegations, including on the death of senior IAS officer Harminder Raj Singh in 2009. Mr. Mishra said Mr. Singh did not commit suicide, but was murdered.
Principal Secretary (Home) Kunwar Fateh Bahadur said the probe would be headed by Atul Kumar, Director-General, Anti-Corruption Organisation. Action would be taken against the 1992 batch IPS officer only after the inquiry report was submitted. “Considering the officer's mental state, a sympathetic view was being taken by the government.”
Mr. Bahadur said the DIG, on being admitted to the CSMMU, was examined by a team of senior doctors from government hospitals and Dalal, Head of the Department of Psychiatry of the CSMMU. “Mr. Mishra is suffering from a ‘bipolar episodic disorder' with the current episode related to mania without psychotic disturbance.” Doctors cast a doubt about his mental state, said Mr. Bahadur.
Moreover, the official claimed, Mr. Mishra's family members said the “officer had not been keeping well for the last month or two and was suffering from depression.”
“The family members further said he had suffered weight loss in the last eight to ten days.”
On Friday, as was the normal practice, Mr. Mishra came to his office at around 11 a.m. and when a file on fire incidents was sent to him, the noting he made created a flutter in the department. The DIG wrote, “Everything in the Uttar Pradesh government was illegal and corrupt. This is the biggest scam.” He also jotted down remarks on corruption in purchase of fire tenders and other equipment.
Undeterred by a warning from Harishchandra Singh, ADG, Fire Services, the DIG later called some journalists and made public what he wrote on the files. He also alleged that Harminder Raj Singh was murdered. Soon, the building was blocked by police personnel and access barred; the DIG was not allowed to move out.
D.K. Thakur, DIG, Lucknow, arrived around 6 p.m. and in the meantime, Mr. Mishra's daughter and his friend, retired IPS officer Abhimanyu Tripathi, were summoned.
Finally around 10 p.m., the DIG was physically removed from his office by policemen, taken down the lift, pushed into his official car and forcibly admitted to the hospital.
