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TMC trains guns at UP IPS officer posted as police observer for Bengal polls
On Monday, Ajay Pal Sharma, a deputy inspector general in the Uttar Pradesh Police, raided a TMC candidate’s home following allegations of threats
In a video clip, which has gone viral, Ajay Pal Sharma, flanked by gun-wielding Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel, is purportedly seen approaching Khan’s residence, and saying: “Acchi tarah se samajh le ki agar kisi ne badmashi kari, toh uska kayde se ilaz kiya jaayega. (Source: Express Photo)
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has taken on Ajay Pal Sharma, an Uttar Pradesh IPS officer posted as a police observer for the West Bengal polls.
In a post on X, the party claimed, “Uttar Pradesh’s notorious ‘Singham’ and Yogi Adityanath’s favourite ‘encounter specialist’, Ajay Pal, has been appointed as the police observer for South 24 Parganas by the Election Commission. This is the same officer infamous for his trigger-happy ‘thok do’ attitude. His track record is even darker. In January 2020, Ajay Pal was transferred out of Rampur, where he was serving as SP, to the Police Training Centre in Unnao after a damning report named him and five other IPS officers in a cash-for-postings scandal. The BJP government was compelled to constitute an SIT, which recommended a vigilance probe against him.”
“He was also booked for criminal breach of trust, causing disappearance of evidence, and criminal conspiracy. This is the kind of “impartial” police observer the Election Commission is handpicking for Bengal. Apparently, a corrupt and criminal track record has now become the primary qualification for the job,” it claimed.
This comes a day after a video of Sharma, a deputy inspector general in the Uttar Pradesh Police, raiding a TMC candidate’s home following allegations of threats, went viral on social media.
Sharma is among the 11 police observers deployed by the Election Commission in West Bengal to ensure peaceful polling in the second phase on April 29. South 24 Parganas district has received the highest allocation with three observers, including Sharma.
On Monday, immediately after taking charge just two days before the final phase of elections in Bengal, Sharma was seen conducting a raid at the house of Jahangir Khan, the TMC candidate from Falta in South 24 Parganas district, after alleged complaints of Khan intimidating voters.
“Listen carefully: if there is any mischief, the ‘treatment’ will be such that crying later won’t help,” Sharma can be heard in a purported video, standing in front of Khan’s house after he could not locate him.
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“Jahangir’s family members are here. I am telling them—I hear his men are going around threatening people. Tell him that if this continues, I will take note of everything. I will take such action that even weeping won’t save him later,” he is heard saying. The video went viral on social media later.
Areas like Bhangar, Canning, Minakhan, and Basanti in South 24 Parganas have repeatedly reported political clashes.
Earlier, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had also criticised Sharma, referring to him as a “tested agent of the BJP”.
Sharing the video, Yadav stated on X , “BJP has sent their agents tested in Rampur and Sambhal, in the name of observers to West Bengal, but nothing will come of these. Didi is here, Didi will remain!”
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