Gujarat’s former DGP P.C. Thakur, who has been appointed as the director general of fire services and home guards in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), has written to the Gujarat government expressing his “inability to join the central deputation” on the ground of his wife’s medical conditions.
A 1979 batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre and DGP since December 2013, Mr. Thakur has proceeded on “sick leave” after his appointment order was issued by the MHA on April 15.
SuperannuationMr. Thakur’s appointment order eight months before his scheduled superannuation in December this year, created a buzz in the State bureaucracy and police circles regarding his frequent “run in” with the Gujarat government and top officials, who found him “inefficient and immature.”
“My wife needs constant medical supervision. I cannot leave her and join the central deputation nor can she be shifted to Delhi for eight months,” Mr. Thakur said, adding, “he had never opted for central deputation.”
He hinted that he was unceremoniously removed from the top post because he did not toe anybody’s line. “I have never worked to appease any individual during my 35-year career in the police,” he said.
According to sources, he may even take voluntary retirement from service because he has just eight months to go before his superannuation.
Miffed with his sudden appointment in the Central government, Mr. Thakur did not go to the State police headquarters to hand over charge to his successor P.P. Pandey, who has been made in-charge DGP of the State.
Sources in the secretariat said the “replacement of P.C. Thakur was under consideration for some time now.”
Central agencies unhappyApparently, the State government and the Central intelligence agencies had taken a strong exception to Mr. Thakur’s interview when Gujarat was placed on high alert after intelligence input regarding Pakistan-based terrorists planning a major strike in some coastal location in the State.
Mr. Thakur had revealed that the “terror input originally came from Pakistan’s NSA Nasir Khan Janjua who shared it with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval.” “As top police official, Mr. Thakur should not have disclosed the source of the input because it was a sensitive matter concerning national security,” a senior official in the State government said.
The State had reportedly sent Mr. Thakur’s name for central deputation in March end without taking his consent. Subsequently, the MHA had processed his case for the vacant post DG (fire services and home guards) and the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister issued the order.
