‘Crank call’ from CM lands official in soup

Call it a misunderstanding or sheer bad luck, but being “rude” to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has led to Saharsa district magistrate NK Chaudhary’s transfer, reports Arun Kumar.

Call it a misunderstanding or sheer bad luck, but being “rude” to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has led to Saharsa district magistrate NK Chaudhary’s transfer.

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After receiving a number of complaints about tardy flood relief in Saharsa at his janata durbar, the Chief Minister on Monday asked his private secretary to contact the DM on his cellphone. The DM, probably due to poor connectivity, mistook it for a “crank call” and did not acknowledge it. On the third attempt, with Nitish himself on the line, Chaudhary finally took the call but then failed to recognise the CM’s voice. An irate Nitish called Chief Secretary AK Chaudhary and asked him to conduct an inquiry into the flood relief lapses in Saharsa. By evening, Chaudhary had been transferred and replaced by Narmadehwar Lal.

“The CM’s secretary called thrice but I couldn’t understand where the calls were coming from. It was all a misunderstanding,” Chaudhary said, adding that he would go to Patna to clear it all up.

In another development, Bettiah Sub-Divisional Police Officer Sajay Kumar was transferred after he was found guilty of lodging a false FIR against Pradeep Chandra Dubey, the brother of BJP MLA Satish Chandra Dubey, Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah said. The matter had led to a furore in the state BJP with several party leaders demanding action against the SDPO.