Graft case ex-DGP asks Naveen: Why did state appoint me

A day after the vigilance wing of the Naveen Patnaik government in Orissa lodged an FIR against former Director General of Police Prakash Mishra, who is currently special secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, the 1977-batch IPS officer hit back. Mishra questioned why the government had appointed him as the state police chief two years ago if he was found corrupt.

On Wednesday, the vigilance police lodged an FIR against Mishra, pertaining to his tenure as chairman-cum-managing director of Odisha State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation Limited (OPHWC) between 2006 and 2009. It was alleged that he gave advance payment of Rs 59 crore to some steel and cement suppliers in 2009.

When contacted, Mishra asked that if the government found him “extremely corrupt” between 2006 and 2009, why did it bring him back from central deputation to make him state police chief in June, 2012. “A case is made as if I ran away with the money. Even when I became DGP, no one ever asked me to explain alleged irregularities. If the vigilance officials conducted an inquiry before lodging the FIR, then I should have been asked to explain. What sort of an inquiry is this?” he asked. He also suggested that the move was to prevent him from becoming the next CBI director. The government is set to short-list names for the post before Ranjit Sinha’s tenure ends in December this year.