IAS officer who quit over J&K curbs held on way to AMU

According to Gopinathan, police detained him after citing an order by Aligarh administration.

Kannan Gopinathan, Kannan Gopinathan IAS detained, Kannan Gopinathan CAA CAA protests, AMU, Aligarh Muslim University,

Former IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan

Former IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan, who resigned in August over “denial of freedom of expression to the people of Jammu and Kashmir”, was on Saturday detained at the Agra border while on his way to deliver a talk on NRC in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

According to Gopinathan, police detained him after citing an order by Aligarh administration. “I had come back from a function in Gwalior and was heading to a talk in Aligarh on CAA. As I reached (the border), I was surrounded by policemen who told me I am not allowed to enter Aligarh…they alleged I was trying to mobilise a crowd from Agra to Aligarh,” he told The Indian Express.

According to Gopinathan, he was first taken to a dhaba and then to a guest house where he was informed by a police officer that a liasioning officer from his home cadre had to deliver him a memo regarding his employment status. “I told them I would not accept any order since I was under duress. I insisted they take me to a police station. After hours, they made an official entry, alleging that I was going to gather a crowd in Agra and take them to Aligarh which is completely baseless. This was sheer paranoia on the part of the administration,” he said.

Agra Police said they received a letter from the Aligarh administration, asking them to detain Gopinathan. “It was regular detention and he was released in the evening at a personal bond which costs nil,” said Ravi Kumar, SP, West Agra.

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