SRINAGAR: A 2000 cadre Indian Police Officer (IPS) of the rank of Inspector General of police, Basant Rath who opted for voluntary retirement from services on Tuesday alleged that Director General of Police Dilbag Singh would be responsible if anything untoward happened to him.
Taking to social networking site Twitter, Basannt Rath wrote: “Dear friends, if anything bad happens to my reputation and safety, Dilbag Singh (son of Balbir Singh), the IPS officer who has been the police chief in J and K since 31.10.2018 (Present Pay Scale – Level – 17), will be responsible.”
Not new to controversies, Rath all along has his unique workstyle, giving little consideration to the laid down norms.
Interestingly on June 25, 2020, Rath, a senior officer of the police had written a letter addressed to the Gandi Nagar police station in Jammu in which he had expressed apprehension about his safety due to “certain activities” of the department in which he was working at senior level. “I’m writing to you to take note of my genuine apprehensions about my safety and reputation. I am doing it as a private citizen of the country. In my personal capacity. Not as a civil servant. Not as a policeman,” he wrote.
The complaint he made was in the backdrop of nasty social media row with his boss, Director General of Police, Dilbagh Singh, a 1987 batch IPS officer.
Subsequently after two weeks of lodging complaint, Rath was suspended by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for “repeated instances of gross misconduct and misbehaviour”.
Known for being blunt, in 2018, he had a verbal spat with incumbent mayor Junaid Azim Matto. As sources reveal, the fight became the reason for his shifting from the traffic department to the office of the commandant general, Home Guards Jammu.
However, soon after his suspension, “westandwithBasantRath” started trending on Twitter.
