ECI REMOVES DMs AND SPs OF BHOJPUR AND NAWADA DISTRICTS

ARA (RNI) Election Commission of India (ECI) removes the District Magistrates and the Superintendent of Police of Bhojpur and Nawada district with immediate effect and also instructed not to assign any election related work to them till the completion of the Lok Sabha Election 2024 but the ECI has not made clear any reason for removing them in the middle of the election.

Bhojpur District Magistrate Raj Kumar and the Bhojpur Superintendent of Police, Pramod Kumar Yadav have been transferred in the middle of the parliamentary election.

The Election Commission of India directed their transfer with immediate effect and they were transferred. Bhojpur DM Raj Kumar is an IAS of 2010 batch and he had assumed the office of the Bhojpur DM on May 11, 2022. He was posted in the Social Welfare Department while the Bhojpur SP Pramod Kumar Yadav is an IPS officer of 2017 batch and is posted in Bhojpur since December 31, 2022.

Besides, the Election Commission of India also removed the District Magistrate Nawada Ashutosh Verma and the SP Ambrish Rahul. These four IAS and IPS officers cannot do the election work this time. The Nawada DM Ashutosh Verma is an IAS officer of 2010 batch and was in the office of the Nawada DM since July 19, 2023 while the Nawada SP Ambrish Rahul is an IPS officer of 2017 batch and was in the office of Nawada SP since December 31, 2022.

Sujeet Kumar Mishra to the ECI vide letter number 434/6/ES-1/BIHAR-HP/2024 mailed to the Chief Secretary, Government of Bihar said that the ECI has directed the Bhojpur DM and SP and the Nawada DM and SP to handover the charge to the officer immediate below in the rank these officers should not be assigned any election related work till completion of General Election to the Lok Sabha 2024 of Bihar State. The ECI also requested the Chief Secretary, Government of Bihar a panel of three IAS/APS Officers for each of the respective positions from SI. No. 1 to 4 be furnished by 3.00 pm on April 2, 2024 along with their APAR grading for the last five years and Vigilance Clearance to the Commission.

The Chief Secretary, Government of Bihar very soon will send list of six IAS and IPS officers to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the ECI itself will select and post the DM and the SP for both the districts.

Generally, the ECI takes such action when an officer is posted at the same place for a long time or when a complaint of irregularity is received against an officer. The ECI gives instruction to remove such officer. In such a situation, the ECI has not clarified anything so far about the reason of removing the DM and the SP of Bhojpur and Nawada districts.