K S Dwivedi is new Bihar DGP; here is what Nitish Kumar government has to say

A political slugfest has erupted between the Nitish Kumar-led BJP-JD(U) government and opposition over the new Bihar Director General of Police. K S Dwivedi yesterday took over the charge as Director General of Police of the state. Opposition parties had slammed the move citing that Dwivedi was the Superintendent of Police of Bhagalpur during the 1989 communal riots during which over 1,000 people died. Home secretary Amir Subhani has said that Dwivedi got regular promotion following that incident and has reached the position of the DGP.

Subhani also said that Dwivedi has been appointed to the post of the DGP on the basis of his clean service record and his seniority. There were four officers in the state of DG rank o of whom Dwivedi was the senior-most, he said. “After the Bhagalpur riots, a three-member judicial commission was set up to inquire into the causes behind the communal flare-up and the role played by district administration. Justice Ramnandan Prasad, who headed the commission, had in his report praised Dwivedi’s handling of the situation, and said there was nothing to suggest that he was guilty of dereliction of duty at any stage,” he said.

However, two other members of the panel had struck a discordant note and jointly submitted a separate report of inquiry where “adverse remarks were made against Dwivedi”, Subhani said. The Home Secretary said that Inquiry Commission had made comments against Dwivedi. However, those comments were later expunged by the Patna High Court, Subhani said.

This came after RJD national spokesman Manoj Jha had alleged that the decision has clearly been taken by Nagpur and imposed on Patna. Jha had also accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of acting at the instance of BJP. Former chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, who had quit the NDA and joined the RJD-Congress combine, had also expressed concern over Dwivedi’s appointment to the top post.

Courtesy: Financial Express