Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh (MP) Lokayukta Justice NK Gupta took suo motu (on its own motion) cognisance of media reports and on Monday ordered a preliminary inquiry against an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, who is seen accepting envelopes from five police personnel in a video that has gone viral on social media.
The video clip is believed to be three years’ old but still found traction on social media, as the 1991-batch IPS officer, V Madhu Kumar Babu, who was posted as the inspector-general (IG) of police, Ujjain zone, is seen receiving the envelopes from the five police personnel at the government-run guest house in Agar-Malwa, which was under his jurisdiction, when the incident allegedly occurred.
A Lokayukta official release stated that special police establishment (SPE), Lokayukta, would probe the matter.
Babu, however, skirted the allegations after the probe was ordered. “I’d like to speak about this later,” he said.
But the viral video had an immediate fallout on Babu’s career prospects.
The state home department relieved him on Saturday evening from the post of transport commissioner to police headquarters (PHQ) to an additional director-general (ADG) without any department under him.
Babu told media persons after he was shunted out of his post that “a conspiracy has been hatched to malign my image. A high-level inquiry should be conducted in the matter to get to the bottom of it.”
{{/usCountry}}Babu told media persons after he was shunted out of his post that “a conspiracy has been hatched to malign my image. A high-level inquiry should be conducted in the matter to get to the bottom of it.”
{{/usCountry}}However, he has refused to comment on his purported action of accepting the envelopes, as the viral clip illustrated.
The state Congress has demanded a high-level probe in connection with the alleged corruption case.
PC Sharma, former Congress lawmaker, and an ex-public relations minister, alleged, “The state government should have immediately ordered an investigation after the video went viral on social media. But, no inquiry has been ordered yet. This shows that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government is not serious about curbing corruption in MP.”
State BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal, however, refuted Congress’s allegations.
“The BJP government’s swift action in transferring the IPS officer is proof of transparent and good governance. We can’t make any comment on the officer’s conduct until the probe is over is and a report is made available. The government is serious about graft and its intent is clear.”