Amit Lodha, a senior IPS officer from Bihar, has been booked under several sections of the anti-corruption law and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly abusing his official position and indulging in financial irregularities for his personal gains.
According to the Special Vigilance Unit (SVU) of Bihar Police, the 1998-batch Indian Police Services (IPS) officer has been booked under Sections 13(1)(B), 13(2) and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018) as well as Sections 120 (B) along with 168 of the IPC.
It added that the case was lodged at the SVU police station after the allegations levelled against him by officials of the State police headquarters and senior authorities were reviewed.
Mr. Lodha had been in the headlines in 2006 when, as the Superintendent of Police in Sheikhpura, he had arrested notorious criminal Ashok Mahto and his accomplice Pintu Mahto.
More recently, Mr. Lodha’s book Bihar Diaries: The True Story Of How Bihar’s Most Dangerous Criminal Was Caught, which was published in 2017,was recently adapted into a web series titled “Khakee: The Bihar Chapter” by Netflix. Released on November 25, the series chronicles a notorious gangster who operated in Nawada, Sheikhpura and other neighbouring districts of Bihar and was caught by a young IPS officer.
Mr. Lodha has also been charged of making an agreement with Netflix for financial gains, despite being a government servant.
A Deputy Superintendent of Police rank officer has been assigned to investigate the case against Mr. Lodha, who recently was transferred from Gaya to the police headquarters. In Gaya, he was posted as the Inspector-General of Police (Magadh range), where he was said to have a dispute with the then Senior Superintendent of Police Aditya Kumar over some corruption charges against him.
