Karnataka IPS officers D Roopa, Hemant Nimbalkar transferred after they spar over ‘corruption’
India

Karnataka IPS officers D Roopa, Hemant Nimbalkar transferred after they spar over ‘corruption’

Roopa has accused Nimbalkar of favouring certain interested players during the tender process of the multi-crore ‘Safe City Project’.

   
Karnataka IPS officers D. Roopa (left) and Hemant Nimbalkar | Photos: Twitter

Karnataka IPS officers D. Roopa (left) and Hemant Nimbalkar | Photos: Twitter

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has transferred two senior IPS officers, D. Roopa and Hemant Nimbalkar, who were engaged in a public spar amid controversy over the tender process of the multi-crore ‘Safe City Project’.

Roopa, who was the first woman home secretary in the state, has now been posted as the managing director of Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation. Nimbalkar, who was serving as the additional commissioner (administration) in Bengaluru, has now been moved to the internal security department.

The transfers Thursday were part of a larger reshuffle of IAS and IPS officers in the state. But the changes made to the positions of these two officers indicate that the B.S. Yediyurappa government was in no mood to see public servants being involved in a spat.

Roopa has accused Nimbalkar of irregularities and bias during the tender process, while the latter has alleged that she was interfering with the process without jurisdiction.

Hours after she was shunted out, Roopa took to social media to voice her dejection in a series of tweets, adding that the transfer has measured her and an officer being “chargesheeted by the CBI” on the same scale. She was referring to the CBI probe into the multi-crore “IMA scam”.

“I am joining the new post tomorrow as posts don’t matter to me. But what matters is, public interest must be upheld and the corrupt must be punished. If my shift paves the way for action on the corrupt, I welcome it,” she said in a tweet.

ThePrint reached Nimbalkar for a comment via texts and calls but there was no response till the time of publishing this report.


Also read: Covid cuts temple revenue by 94% in Karnataka, annual earning down to Rs 18.7 crore


Exchange of allegations

According to Roopa, as the head of the tender inviting committee, Nimbalkar favoured certain interested players in clear violation of norms.

Speaking to ThePrint, she said, “I was a whistleblower. I exposed the irregularities. I was asked by the chief secretary to look into it.”

She added, “Is it my fault that I brought the illegalities in the tender and saved public money, not Rs 1 crore but Rs 1,067 crore (the project cost).” The first phase of the project, however, is worth Rs 667 crore.

The irregularities were first claimed by state-run Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) last month.

“I noticed in the official documents that there were several irregularities claimed by Bharat Electronics Limited in the tender process of the Nirbhaya Safe City Project which were prima facie true. BEL had also sent a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office regarding the discrepancies,” she said, adding that she carried out her duties as a bona fide public servant.

Earlier, Nimbalkar had alleged that someone was trying to get access to classified information with respect to the tender in the project, impersonating as the home secretary “without lawful authority”.

Roopa responded to that charge claiming that Rajneesh Goel, Additional Chief Secretary (Home Department), had asked her to probe the case.

With Goel saying that the file was never marked to her and her comments or observations were not recorded, Roopa said she did not have any comments in the file because it was not officially marked to her, but Goel had personally handed it over to her.

On Sunday, Nimbalkar told reporters that the tender process was not biased or complete as the final date for the submission of bids was 8 January.

The project in question

The row is over the Bengaluru Smart City project that is being executed under the Nirbhaya Fund.

The Centre had announced this fund in 2013 to support initiatives by state governments and NGOs for projects involving women’s safety. These projects can include setting up of CCTVs and video feed monitoring, GIS-based crime mapping for predictive policing, creating a safer urban infrastructure, and efficient access to law enforcement agencies.

The Karnataka government will bear 40 per cent of the total cost of this project.


Also read: The political U-turns and flip-flops by superstar Rajinikanth since 1996