The Gujarat government is likely to suspend Additional Director General of Police P.P. Pandey, who has been declared a proclaimed absconder in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case. The CBI has named him an accused in the killings. He has been absenting from duty. A police source said, “When an IPS officer remains absent from duty without taking leave, the Director General of Police issues a notice to that officer. And then, if he still does not report for work in 15 days, the DGP sends a report to the State Home department. This report is followed by a departmental enquiry and then the officer is suspended.”
“The state home department has not received any report yet from the police chief. Let the report come first, we will take a decision based on it,” said S.K. Nanda, Gujarat’s Home Secretary. When contacted, Gujarat DGP Amitabh Pathak said that Mr. Pandey’s case is was being looked into.
The CBI had issued summons for the 1982 batch official in February, but Mr. Pandey went on sick leave. And, since then, never took charge. After a CBI plea, the court declared him a proclaimed absconder. The officer surfaced dramatically on July 29 up to August 6. But nobody knows his whereabouts. “This time Mr. Pandey has not submitted any leave report,” said a top police department official, requesting anonymity.
