Nitish opts for mass transfer of babus

There are also seven promotees among the 21 Superintendents of Police sent to various disturbed districts.

Promoted officers have been sent to districts to improve law and order while those regarded as “efficient” have been brought back to the headquarters. A number of the transferred IAS officers have a “poor track record” and are not regarded as competent.

Rashid Ahmad Khan, a promoted IAS officer, had been removed as DM by the Election Commission as he was on the list of tainted officers. But he is back as Buxar’s DM.

As DM of Banka Khan had received the then Chief Minister Rabri Devi on an election campaign during the Assembly election last February. When he was Siwan DM, he had referred to RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin as the “Gandhi of Siwan”. Gopalganj, the native district of Laloo Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi, will now get two promoted officers as DM and SP.

Murlidhar Rai, languishing at the headquarters as Revenue Secretary, has been made DM while Meghnath Ram, shunted to the special branch, will be the new SP.

Goplaganj, which borders Uttar Pradesh, is infamous for its guns and goons while Nitish has promised to re-establish the rule of law in three months.

Sunil Kumar, who was suspended as Jehanabad’s SP after the Naxalite jailbreak, has been posted to yet another disturbed district—Siwan, where Shahabuddin’s writ runs—after his suspension was revoked.

The administration had charged Kumar with failure to counter the Naxalites after the jailbreak. Another promoted IPS officer, Satyendra Prasad Singh, has been made the SP in Saran.

Police officers say they fail to see what the transfer could be based on other than caste considerations. Saran is the district which Prabhunath Singh, a JD(U) MP with criminal antecedents, is trying to lord over. IPS officer Singh is the same caste as Prabhunath.

Caste considerations may also have influenced the choice of new Madhepura SP Anil Kishore Yadav. It is rumoured that JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav has got an SP of his choice in the constituency he lost to Laloo Prasad from last year.

The reshuffle has reportedly annoyed BJP. A senior BJP leader, who holds an important portfolio in the Nitish government, said his party was not consulted on the reshuffle.