‘At loggerheads with MLA’, Baddi SP applies for extension of leave
Talking to The Indian Express over the phone on November 8, the MLA had distanced himself from the sanctioned leave of the woman IPS officer.
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SP Ilma Afroz had proceeded on 15-day earned leave on November 7 to attend to her ailing mother amidst reports of her differences with Congress MLA from Doon, Ram Kumar Chaudhary. (Express photo)Baddi Superintendent of Police Ilma Afroz, a 2018 IPS officer, is learnt to have applied for seven-day extension of her already sanctioned 15-day leave ending on November 21.
“The woman IPS officer has not yet received confirmation regarding the acceptance of her request to extend the 15-day leave, which is scheduled to end on November 21. The temporary charge of SP (Baddi) was handed over to Himachal Pradesh Police Service (HPPS) officer Vinod Kumar Dhiman on November 12. Currently, the IPS officer is at her native place in Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh,” sources close to the woman IPS officer told The Indian Express.
An AIG-rank police officer looking after media communication at Shimla police headquarter said, “We can’t make any comment on the development. We will check the matter and then reply”.
The IPS officer had proceeded on 15-day earned leave on November 7 to attend to her ailing mother amidst reports of her differences with Congress MLA from Doon, Ram Kumar Chaudhary. During the recent monsoon session of the Vidhan Sabha in September, MLA Chaudhary had moved a privilege motion against the officer. The inquiry into the motion was assigned to DIG Abhishek Dullar, who is currently attending a month-long promotion course in Hyderabad.
Talking to The Indian Express over the phone on November 8, the MLA had distanced himself from the sanctioned leave of the woman IPS officer. He had said, “Indeed, the police had once challaned a truck belonging to one of our firms for illegal mining but that matter is settled now. I moved a privilege motion against her for breaching my secrecy through my driver during the recent monsoon session. The enquiry is on. I have nothing to do with any police officer’s leave, transfer etc.”
Chaudhary was one of the six Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPSs) recently removed from their posts after the Shimla High Court declared the Himachal Pradesh Chief Parliamentary Secretaries Act, 2006, null and void on November 13.
Amid reports linking the officer’s leave to her differences with the Congress MLA, the Himachal Pradesh Police issued a statement on November 16, stating, “Superintendent of Police, District Baddi, Ilma Afroz, IPS (HP:2018), has been sanctioned 15-day earned leave from November 7, 2024, to November 21, 2024, to attend to her mother, who is currently unwell. During her leave, Vinod Kumar-II, HPPS (2007), presently Commandant of the 8th Battalion, Home Guards, District Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, has been temporarily deployed to oversee police operations in District Baddi until Ms. Afroz resumes her duties. There is no need for any speculation.”
On November 16, HPPS officer Dhiman, who has been officiating as SP (Baddi), met Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu at his office in the State Secretariat in Shimla. Talking to The Indian Express, the officiating Baddi SP stated, “My main focus is to curb the drug menace in the Baddi area. Being an industrial hub, there is a significant migrant population here. Maintaining law and order in this area is my top priority. There are six police stations in Baddi.”
Afroz is a graduate of St. Stephen’s College in Delhi and has also studied at the University of Oxford in England on a scholarship.
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