Agartala, Oct 18 (IANS): The BJP-led government in Tripura on Thursday suspended an IPS officer and transferred six senior police officials and following the police's failure to arrest former PWD Minister and top Left leader Badal Choudhury in connection with an alleged corruption case.
Separate official notifications said that West Tripura district police chief Ajit Pratap Singh was suspended from service while Deputy Inspector General, Southern Range, Arindam Nath has been removed from his post and transferred to Police Headquarters without any responsibility.
Senior IPS officers Soumitra Dhar and L. Darlong have been transferred as DIG, Southern Range and DIG, Northern Range, respectively. Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Raju Reang, who was probing the alleged PWD scam reportedly involving the former minister, a former Principal Secretary and an Ex-PWD Chief Engineer, has been transferred to the police department's procurement wing.
Tripura Police Service (TPS) officer and SDPO (Sadar) Dhruba Nath has been posted in Reang's place. Two other TPS officers - Ajay Kumar Das and Nirdesh Deb - have been transferred to Crime branch.
A large contingent of central paramilitary forces, the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) and state police led by Director General of Police Akhil Kumar Shukla and other top police officials continued their search in many places including the headquarters of the CPI-M state committee, a newspaper office, the MLA Hostel and residences of Left leaders and members to arrest the veteran Left leader Choudhury, an eight-term MLA from 1978.
The state government's vigilance wing on Sunday filed an FIR against the former Public Works Department (PWD) Minister, former Principal Secretary, PWD, Y.P. Singh and ex-PWD Chief Engineer Sunil Bhowmik in connection with alleged "misdeeds" in implementation of 13 projects, worth over Rs 638 crore, during the previous Left Front government in 2008-09.
Bhowmik was arrested late on Sunday soon after the FIR was registered at the West Tripura Police Station under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act.