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Journalism of Courage
The Election Commission on Sunday ordered the suspension of Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) Anjani Kumar for allegedly violating the model code of conduct and service rules after he visited the house of state Congress president A Revanth Reddy to congratulate him amid counting of votes for Assembly elections.
Later, acting on the EC’s order, the General Administration Department of the Telangana government ordered the appointment of Director General of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ABC) Ravi Kumar as DGP, Telangana, with full additional charge.
Photos of Kumar handing a bouquet to Reddy in the afternoon were splashed on social media when the election results showed the Congress in the lead. Taking cognizance of the social media posts, the EC wrote to the chief secretary to take action against Kumar. According to EC sources, the officer visiting and congratulating Reddy when the counting of votes was still on vitiated the level-playing field. The EC sources said Kumar’s actions had violated the model code and relevant service rules. However, the poll panel did not make its order public. When asked, the EC spokesperson declined to comment.
Reddy, who is believed to be a front-runner for the Chief Minister’s post in the state, was a candidate from Kamareddy and Kodangal constituencies. Kumar’s decision to visit Reddy, along with two other senior police officers, was allegedly an indication of “seeking favours”, an EC source said.
The EC also sought explanations from the other two officers — state police nodal officer Sanjay Kumar Jain and nodal officer (expenditure) Mahesh M Bhagwat — as to why they visited Reddy’s home while counting was on, the source said.
