Gandhinagar, Oct 23 (PTI) Gujarat Congress leaders and Dalit community members on Wednesday gathered outside the Director General of Police (DGP) office here and staged a protest, seeking the suspension of IPS officer Rajkumar Pandian for his alleged misbehaviour with MLA Jignesh Mevani.
Shouting slogans against Pandian, Additional Director General of Police (SC/ST cell), hundreds of people led by Mevani and senior Congress leaders, including GPCC president Shaktisinh Gohil and party MLAs, gathered outside the ‘Police Bhavan’ in Gandhinagar.
The Police Bhavan in the state capital houses the offices of the DGP and also Pandian.
Mevani has alleged Pandian misbehaved with him and Gujarat Congress Schedule Caste department chairman Hitendra Pithadiya when they went to meet him in his chamber on October 15 with a request to take action against anti-social elements encroaching upon land allotted to Dalits by the state government in the 1980s (when Congress was in power), especially in Kutch district.
“Anti-social elements have grabbed 20,000 bigha of land (1 bigha is 17,427 sq ft) belonging to Dalits, but IPS officer Pandian does not have the courage to get their land freed and restore it to their rightful owners. When we went with an appeal, the IPS officer tried to suppress our voice by insulting us and asking us to leave his chamber,” claimed the Congress MLA from Vadgam.
Pandian has denied the allegations levelled against him by Mevani, a prominent Dalit leader who is also a working president of the Gujarat Congress.
Later, a delegation of senior Congress leaders met DGP Vikas Sahay in his chamber and submitted a memorandum accusing Pandian of “absolutely unacceptable, improper and deplorable behaviour”.
The delegation demanded the senior IPS officer’s immediate termination/suspension and an “unconditional apology to the Dalits of Gujarat and India”.
Talking to PTI, Pandian denied the allegations levelled against him, calling them “baseless,” and asserted the state police give due importance to the welfare and safety of weaker sections of society, including Dalits and tribals.
Mevani was not the first public representative to visit him in his chamber, noted the IPS officer.
“None of those who came to meet me in my chamber have ever complained that they were insulted or made to wait outside,” Pandian insisted.
“When (Mevani) came to meet me on October 15, I called him immediately inside without any delay by letting others wait. Instead of talking about the issue (of land encroachment), he started shouting in the chamber, saying ‘why I did not go outside to receive him and not follow protocols’,” he said.
The IPS officer said the opposition party legislator put his mobile phone on his office table with its voice recorder on, which he objected to as unacceptable behaviour.
“Upon this, he (Mevani) started shouting. I asked him how I can attend to his grievance in a situation like this. I told him, ‘Either you do it properly or I will not give you time, you can approach a senior officer,'” said the Additional DGP.
“Mevani’s allegations that we are not sensitive towards SC/ST communities are baseless. Let me tell you clearly — we give utmost importance to the welfare, safety and security of weaker section of society, including SC/ST communities,” Pandian emphasised.
“Whenever there is any incident regarding SC/STs, we analyse them and write to the concerned CPs (Commissioners of Police) and SPs (Superintendent of Police) and address their grievances immediately,” he pointed out.
According to Mevani, when he went to meet Pandian in his office, the IPS officer “insulted” him and did not adhere to protocols required to be followed to receive a public representative.
The MLA claimed the police officer made him leave his mobile phone outside his chamber.
The same day (October 15), Mevani sent a letter to assembly speaker Shankar Chaudhary, alleging the IPS officer insulted him when he went to meet him in his office.
During the meeting, Pandian allegedly got agitated and asked his staff to take the mobile phones (of Mevani and Pithadiya), claiming they may be recording their conversation in the chamber. PTI COR KA PD RSY
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