Amid strong support for Durga, UP govt serves her chargesheet

Lucknow, Aug 5: The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday issued a chargesheet against Durga Shakti Nagpal, the suspended sub-divisional officer of Gautam Budh Nagar. The latter was given 15 days time to reply to the charges against her, government sources said.

A copy of the chargesheet was sent to the department of personnel and training as per the All India Services Rules. The Samajwadi Party (SP) government said in its chargesheet that the 28-year-old IAS officer did not abide by the due process of law while ordering demolition of a wall of a religious place at Kadalpur village in the district on July 27.

The government has alleged that the act could have incited communal tension, especially in the backdrop of an alert to all district authorities to oversee communal harmony in view of Ramadan and the Kanwaris' movement.

Sources said Meerut divisional officer Manjit Singh was asked to send the chargesheet and the department received the draft chargesheet on Saturday morning and it was issued the next day after being checked.

The UP government's issuing the chargesheet occurred even as support for Nagpal intensified across the country. Even UPA chairperson and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi stepped in to write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure that the suspended IAS officer received a fair treatment.

Gandhi's letter led to a massive retaliation from the SP with the latter even threatening not to support the UPA government over the crucial food security bill.

OneIndia News