3 min readLucknowApr 18, 2018 08:11 AM IST
First published on: Apr 18, 2018 at 04:32 AM IST
An encounter site in Lucknow. (File photo)
Inspector Suneet Kumar Singh, who had been suspended for allegedly tipping off a criminal about an “impending encounter” and asking him to “manage” some BJP leaders in Jhansi district, was dismissed from service on Tuesday. This is the second time he has faced such action. In 2007, he was dismissed following an inquiry, but joined the police force again in 2008 on a court directive.
In the audio clip that had surfaced on social media last week, a voice — purportedly the inspector’s — is heard telling gangster Lekhraj Singh Yadav about an encounter planned in Jhansi. Singh, who was the SHO of Mauranipur police station in the district, also allegedly asked Lekhraj to “manage” BJP’s Jhansi district president Sanjay Dubey and Rajeev Singh ‘Parichha’, the party MLA from Jhansi’s Babina constituency.
On Saturday, SSP Jhansi, Vinod Kumar had suspended Singh and ordered an inquiry against him. A press communique released by the Home Department on Tuesday stated that the decision to dismiss him was taken by DIG (Jhansi Range) Jawahar, on the basis of an inquiry report submitted by Assistant Superintendent of Police Abhishek.
Meanwhile, the Jhansi SSP has said that as per records, the home secretary had in May last year given a clean chit and had ordered revoking eight misconduct entries in Singh’s service record. Following the clean chit, Singh, a sub-inspector at the time, had been promoted to the rank of inspector a few months ago. Mani Prasad Mishra, who retired as the state Home Secretary in November last year, however, said, “I don’t remember issuing (any) such order.”
Jhansi’s SSP Vinod Kumar said, “As per record, the decision to withdraw Suneet’s misconduct was taken on March 3, 2017, but the letter in this regard was issued on May 5 that year. Following the order passed by the then UP government’s Home Secretary Mani Prasad Mishra, all charges against Suneet were withdrawn.” Yogi Adityanath was sworn in as the chief minister of UP on March 19 last year.
Suneet Singh, who joined the police force in 2001 as sub-inspector, got eight misconducts recorded between 2009 and 2017.
SSP Kumar said that Singh was given a misconduct after he changed a murder case into abetment to suicide and gave three of the four accused a clean chit. He was given another misconduct for not filing a chargesheet in stipulated time, which helped the accused get bail. In another case of misconduct, senior police officials found that Singh had detained an accused for days without showing his arrest. Among others, misconduct entries in his service record were marked in three cases for physical assault. He was found to have misbehaved with the staff of a toll plaza, a police constable, and a journalist, SSP Kumar said.
An encounter site in Lucknow. (File photo)
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