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8 top CRPF officers transferred overnight, cadre accuses IPS brass of ‘foul play’

MHA calls the transfers 'routine activity' while an IPS officer in CRPF says the orders, issued in February, have been implemented now since the situation is better.

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New Delhi: Eight top CRPF officers were transferred with a surprise order issued Monday evening and asked to move out of their posts the next morning — a move the force is seeing as both “unprecedented” and an “affront” to the senior officers by the Indian Police Service (IPS) brass.

The government had suspended several transfers in view of the Covid-19 crisis, but the orders for the immediate transfer of the key Inspector General (IG)-rank officers of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were made purportedly “in view of operational requirements”.

However, many of these transfers to administrative and training positions were from operational positions, some of which are crucial in the fight against Covid-19, the officers claimed.

“Several of these positions are training and admin-related. What is the urgency in transferring an officer in the middle of the Covid crisis to run CRPF academies where no training is taking place?” asked one of the transferred officers, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“This is just foul play by the IPS top brass… It is unheard of that officers who have given 30 years of service are asked to pack up their bags in the evening and relieve their office the next day,” the officer said.

While the notice for the transfer of these officers was first given in February, it was kept in abeyance due to the pandemic, sources said. However, the officers concerned were suddenly asked to discharge their duties within a few hours, and wind up their offices by the next morning.

CRPF spokespersons did not respond to requests from ThePrint for a comment. Ministry of Home Affairs spokesperson Vasudha Gupta said she is authorised to give only factual information, and not comments.

“There are a lot of routine activities,” she said replying to queries via WhatsApp.

A senior IPS officer from the CRPF said there was no haste shown in issuing the orders.

“As you are aware these orders were issued in February, and kept in abeyance due to the lockdown … Now that the situation is better, the orders have been implemented,” the officer said. “Everything cannot be viewed with the lens of CRPF-IPS tension.”

When asked why the officers were given just a few hours’ notice to wind up, the officer said it was a “minor, logistical issue”.

Officers of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), which includes the CRPF, have had a long standing tussle with IPS officers who come on deputation to these forces, who they allege manage to keep the plum postings and relegate cadre officers to inferior positions in their own forces.

Though the Supreme Court had in 2019 given parity to the CAPFs with their IPS counterparts, the government is yet to implement these orders.


Also read: Why IPS officers want to keep heading forces like CRPF, NSG & BSF


From crucial operations to training and admin posts

Among the eight transferred officers is IG of the Rapid Action Force, Arun Kumar, who has now been sent to the Internal Security Academy (ISA) in Mount Abu, a training institute of the CRPF in Rajasthan.

“There is no training happening because of Covid at this time… How are you transferring the IG of RAF, which has such a crucial role in Covid, to a training institute at this time?” said the senior CRPF officer quoted above.

Two other officers, Vivek Vaid, IG, West Bengal, and A.V. Chauhan, IG, Rajasthan, have been transferred to the Directorate in charge of establishment and the CRPF Academy, respectively.

“Both West Bengal and Rajasthan have a severe Covid crisis,” said another DIG-level officer. “What are your priorities? What is the urgency to have a change of guard in these positions at this time when the country is still gasping for some relief?”

Together, Rajasthan and West Bengal account for nearly 9,000 active coronavirus cases in India as of Wednesday morning, according to the Union health ministry figures.

Only one of the eight transferred officers is an IPS officer, Anshuman Yadav, who has been brought to Delhi as IG, Intelligence Directorate, from the Manipur and Nagaland sector. All the other transferred officers are of the CRPF cadre, which has been at loggerheads with the IPS leadership in the force for allegedly discriminating against cadre officers for months now.

The Centre has been deploying CRPF and Railway Protection Force (RPF) troops across the country, including coronavirus hotspots in Maharashtra and Delhi, to enforce the lockdown, control crowds and maintain social distancing.

In addition, the CRPF has also been setting up quarantine facilities in several states such as Haryana, Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, Karnataka and Kerala, and sending CRPF’s own doctors to these facilities.

With the lockdown partially lifted and a migrant crisis still unravelling, CRPF officers said the troops would be needed in even greater numbers.


Also read: Modi govt plan to merge CAPF, IPS recruitment exams could end animosity between them


‘Upset and dejected’

ThePrint spoke to three of the eight transferred officers, including the one quoted above, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“There is no clarity on when flights, trains, cab services, etc. will resume. At this time, we have all been shunted out from our positions and transferred to other places,” said the second officer. “We are born and brought up in the soil of the CRPF… To shunt us out in one stroke is unimaginable behaviour being meted out to us,” he added. “We are all upset and dejected.”

A third officer also said there is something “unusual” about how these orders were issued — in the evening and with just a few hours of notice to some of the senior-most officers of the cadre.

“Usually a few days are given for any officer to wind up. To ask us to leave by the forenoon, that too in the evening after office hours suddenly is very strange,” the officer said.

“How are we supposed to take charge when there are no trains or flights?” he added. “It is very disturbing for any organisation to see its senior-most officers be treated in this manner… It destroys the fabric of the organisation.”


Also read: CRPF headquarters in Delhi sealed after staff member tests positive for Covid-19


Request put in to postpone transfers just days ago

According to highly placed sources in the CRPF, at a meeting with Director General A.P. Maheshwari held earlier this month, CRPF officers had requested that all routine transfers be postponed until March 2021 in the light of the health emergency.

Officers had requested that transfers only be made on medical or compassionate grounds.

The officers were told that relevant orders from the Ministry of Home Affairs are still awaited on the issue, and a decision will be taken after the MHA issues instructions.

The first officer quoted above said, “It seems that even before the MHA could respond, this decision was taken so that there is no impediment in the transfers of these officers. It cannot be overlooked that this has happened just days after the fact that IPS officers are misusing CRPF staff and manpower was exposed.”


Also read: New twist in tussle as CRPF withdraws cooks, drivers posted with retired IPS officers


 

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14 COMMENTS

  1. This is d time to show indomitable spirit .They can’t put u in worse any further.Make a concerted effort with double vigour .I m sure you wd have last laugh.What is purturbing is dat Union govt is turning blind eye to this feud .MHA deliberately wants you to be at backfoot but you all always stand united.all the best

  2. This colonial-era arrangement should have been done away with decades ago. Why have IAS officers designated as District Collectors? What have they to collect nowadays? During colonial rule, the DCs & District Labour Commissioners were tasked with the collection of taxes from local businesses & landlords. After independence, the DCs should have been re-labelled as District Development Officers. Again, a prime example of sound common-sense not being applied.

  3. There is no doubt, there is something fishy going on out there. Otherwise why just a few hours to move out or precisely to be kicked out on transfer of top CRPF officers. IPS officers are not gods and they should be put in their place by the Supreme Court.

  4. This type of postings are definitely not done in good spirits.These transfer which is called forthwith postings are for sure not the normal transfer.Whats cooking can be only disclosed by the ministry.

  5. This is totally unfair , why are we playing politics with police department ..this transfer notice should remove immidiately from politics and give authority to SC OR HC with proper proof submission to court …then court will decide who big position of officer should be transfer or suspend..

  6. If Justice Murlidhar can be transferred physically in one night what is wrong in transferring these officers. This culture has come to stay.

  7. ये भारत सरकार के गृह मंत्रालय का मामला है । प्रिंट इसे किस साजिश के तहत उछाल रहा है ।

    जिस आफिसर का हवाला आप दें रहे हैं या तो वो वर्दी में ,,, हिजड़ा,,,है ।जो अपने सही अधिकारों के लिए लड़ने से डरता है ।या ,फिर सारा लेख एक षणयत्र है ।जो पिछले कई समय से क्रम वार , प्रिन्ट ,पर ही IPS vs Other के तौर पर लिखे जा रहे हैं ।
    IPS. Association से और CRPF मुख्यालय से ,,प्रिट ,में छपे लेखों पर जबाव मांगे गयेहै । भविष्य में जो भी अफवाहों का बाजार गर्म कर रहा है जल्द सामने आयेगा और अपने कर्मों का फल भुगतना ही पड़ेगा।

    • Dear.
      Sir,Come on bravehearts…If you cow down now, you will only let the force, your people and juniors suffer. Take on the challenge head on. Move ahead and stay united and prepare your next line in command. General public never differentiate CPF from IPS.

    • Hijra to wo hai jo aese transfer approve kar raha hai … IPS Dalalo ka adda hai… CBI ho ya Koi bhi ye dalal banke kam karte hai… hijro ke

  8. Why have UNTRAINED IPS material be seconded to topmost vacancies in CAPFs,? There are career officers with vast experience in CAPFs
    Home Ministry is top heavy with IPS guys who feel that they are the only god’s children. Supreme Court has ordered parity, why is the Ministry sleeping over the order?#

  9. Come on bravehearts…If you cow down now, you will only let the force, your people and juniors suffer. Take on the challenge head on. Move ahead and stay united and prepare your next line in command. General public never differentiate CPF from IPS.

  10. It is surprising that cadre officers of CRPF of IG level have been given few hours notice to proceed on transfer to New location at a time when there is no normal air and train service to proceed to New location. At a time when country is fighting against Covid and there are restrictions on movement in lock down ,department is violating the spirit of lock down. It is apparent there is something more than that meets the eyes. The fairness and transparency are backbone of good administration. If so many officers of IG are being treated in this manner ,will it not shake the confidence and trust of junior officers and constabulary . It could have easily been avoided at this juncture.

  11. These transfers are certainly not done in either public interest or CRPF itself. These are to overshadow the real issues ie grant of NFFU/OGAS and the latest issue of misuse of manpower / vehicles and other resources of CAPF by the retired IPS officers. The misuse of these resources is rampant even by those IPS officers who are not posted in CRPF but have a friend there. Can MHA look into the issue seriously and take remedial and corrective action. Thanks

  12. This is a long tussle, IPS should remain in their state cadre, rather than focussing on police reforms, they are creating ruckus in CAPF. Only CAPF cadre officer should become DG of CAPF.

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