Caught on camera: Samajwadi Party's Narendra Bhati boasting he got IAS officer suspended in 41 minutes
On camera, a senior Samajwadi Party leader brags to supporters that it took him "just 41 minutes" to have IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal suspended from her post in Noida, near Delhi.
Narendra Bhati, who is also his party's candidate for the next parliamentary election from here, swaggeringly declares, in a speech the day after Ms Nagpal's suspension, that he phoned both Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his father, Mulayam Singh Yadav "at 10.30 am and by 11:11 am, she had been suspended." This, Mr Bhati says, proves "the power of democracy."
(Watch)The speech amplifies the controversy around the removal of Ms Nagpal, 28, from her post as Sub-Divisional magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar.
Ms Nagpal's supporters say she has been suspended for taking on the powerful sand mining mafia in the area, a charge the chief minister denied on Thursday. He insisted that she had to be removed from office because she endangered communal harmony by ordering the demolition of a wall of a complex that was to house a new mosque.
Ms Nagpal met Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Javed Usmani this afternoon and said she did not do anything wrong. She reportedly told Mr Usmani that she had gone to the disputed site under orders from the District Magistrate and she did not order the demolition of the structure but the locals brought it down themselves.
Meanwhile, the Allahabad High Court today praised Ms Napgal for her "brave" campaign against illegal mining, but said it could not intervene in her suspension because the petition it heard had been moved by an activist and not the IAS officer.
A report based on information from local police and administrative officials clears Ms Nagpal of the charges against her. It finds that villagers removed the contentious wall after she pointed out that clearances to build a religious building, as mandated by the Supreme Court, had not been taken.
Opposition parties allege that Mr Bhati was close to some mining mafia dons in the area, and that he used his political muscle to retaliate against the IAS officer.