IPS officer who helped Ishrat case probe shifted

Satish Verma was probing graft charges against NEEPCO officials in Shillong

Gujarat cadre IPS officer Satish Verma, who assisted the Central Bureau of Investigation in probing the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case, was transferred from the post of Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of the Shillong-based North Eastern Electrical Power Corporation (NEEPCO) on Tuesday, a year before his tenure came to an end.

Shifted to CRPF

The decision to transfer Mr. Verma was taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the cadre controlling authority of IPS officers, following several letters from the Ministry of Power. Mr. Verma has been transferred to the Central Reserve Police Force but his posting has not been decided yet, said a senior Home Ministry official.

Mr. Verma was earlier served a show-cause notice by the MHA on behalf of NEEPCO, where he has been posted for the past two years. A CVO’s tenure is for three years. Mr. Verma refused to comment on his transfer.

Police complaints

The MHA’s decision to transfer Mr. Verma comes at a time when the latter was at an advanced stage of investigating serious corruption charges against NEEPCO officials and had even summoned them for questioning. Last week, Mr. Verma lodged police complaints in Shillong against three senior officials of NEEPCO including its outgoing Chairman and Managing Director P.C Pankaj, who retired on June 30, for allegedly extorting money from his subordinate and preventing him from discharging his duties. Mr. Verma filed three FIRs against Mr. Pankaj, S.B. Borgohain, Director (Personnel), and P.K. Jaiswal on July 1.

Served notice

Mr. Verma, a 1986 batch IPS officer, was served notice for alleged “misconduct” and “unauthorised absence” from duty in April this year. An official said that Mr. Verma had asked for the details of the charges levelled against him by the Power Ministry.

“The Power Ministry, in its complaint, has said that Mr. Verma was on an unauthorised leave and he did not submit a report of his tour details to the CMD of NEEPCO. Though a CVO reports only to the Chief Vigilance Commissioner, he is required to submit a report of his movement out of station to the CMD. But in this case he was investigating corruption charges against the CMD so he might not have submitted the report,” said a source.

Mr. Verma was part of a three-member SIT appointed by the Gujarat High Court to probe the Ishrat Jehan encounter killing case.