Durga meets Mulayam: Political intervention to revoke suspension?

Lucknow, Aug, 28: IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, whose suspension by the Uttar Pradesh government triggered nationwide outrage, met Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav last week, raising the possibility that her suspension may be revoked soon.

Sources say the 28-year-old officer opted for a political recourse to end her suspension when she met Yadav and presented her case. This meeting means that there are signs of a political intervention to get her suspension revoked. Sources also revealed that formal orders for her reinstatement may be issued tonight or tomorrow morning, reported NDTV.

Durga, belonging to the 2009-batch, was suspended as SDM of Gautam Buddh Nagar on July 27 allegedly for ordering the demolition of a mosque being built illegally on government land in Greater Noida.

Defying criticism, the Samajwadi Party asked the officer to respond to charges of poor administrative acumen and lack of foresight by ordering a demolition that endangered communal harmony in the month of Ramzan.

To that, Durga's reply, claiming that she was innocent and not involved in this demolition, came a few days back. But it was after her meeting with the Samajwadi Party chief that the state Home Secretary RN Srivastava was asked to review her case.

Sources said the inquiry officer was "examining her response" and analysing the sequence of events that led to the mosque demolition.

Durga's supporters allege that she was 'punished for her severe crackdown on the politically-connected illegal sand mining mafia in western Uttar Pradesh.

OneIndia News