Orissa CM suspends IGP Sanjib Marik

Bhubaneswar, May 18 (UNI) Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today suspended Inspector General of Police(IGP) Sanjeeb Marik on charges of having alleged nexus with criminals outside the state.

The action against Mr Marik, presently heading the Police Academy, was taken after Director General of Police Amarananda Pattnaik submitted an inquiry report to the chief minister on the allegation that the senior IPS officer had nexus with criminals from Jharkhand involved in looting Rs 23 lakh from Bhadrak LIC office last February.

Acting on the newspaper report about the alleged link of Mr Marik with the criminals, on May 10 Mr Patnaik directed the state DGP to conduct an inquiry and submit a report within a week.

The DGP, who visited the Bhadrak jail where the criminals involved in the LIC loot case were lodged and probed the matter, submitted his report to the chief minister.

Talking to newsmen the chief minister said he had directed the State Home Secretary to initiate departmental disciplinary proceedings against Mr Marik on the basis of the findings of the inquiry report.

When contacted, both the DGP and the Home Secretary declined to comment on the findings of the report stating that it was up to the government to take action against the senior IPS officer.

The BJD-BJP government had to face embarrassment from the main opposition Congress for not taking any action against the senior IPS officer.

Orisssa Pradesh Congress Committee(OPCC)President Jayadev Jena demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged nexus between the IGP and the criminals and condemned the protection given by Mr Marik to the anti-socials.

Mr Jena also demanded that the state government publish a white paper on the number of crimes conducted by the criminals from undivided Bihar during the last seven years in the state.

He alleged that though the Director General of Police(DGP) had submitted a report to the government against Mr Marik for his alleged involvement with the criminals from Jharkhand,the state government had suppressed the report for more than a month.

It was only recently, after the newspapers reported the incident, that the matter was being probed for the second time by the DGP. The Congress leader said the police had recorded all information in a video CD on the nexus of the senior IPS officer with the criminals and demanded that the VCD be made public.

UNI