Lucknow:
Durga Shakti Nagpal, the IAS officer whose suspension has created a storm in Uttar Pradesh, did not get the wall of a mosque being built illegally demolished, says a report by the District Magistrate of Gautam Buddha Nagar.
The report says that the 28-year-old official had instead asked residents of the NOIDA village to take down the wall or get permission to build the structure, and the villagers dismantled it. This will strengthen the case of angry IAS officers of the state who are demanding that a suspension order against Ms Nagpal be immediately revoked.
Ms Nagpal was suspended last weekend, ostensibly for having ordered the demolition of the wall. "To prevent communal tension" during the month of Ramzan, explained Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
Her colleagues, however, allege she has been punished for taking on the notorious sand mafia that operates along the Yamuna and Hindon rivers in western Uttar Pradesh. They point out that a local police report has said there was no fear of communal tension in the area.
The IAS officer's association of UP, which will take Durga's battle to the Prime Minister's Office today, says that the suspension was "extreme" and Ms Nagpal should only have been warned. They will meet minister V Narayanasamy to seek the Centre's intervention today.
The District Magistrate's report, submitted on Saturday, has clearly not moved the state government to change its mind. It had promised two days ago to "review her suspension," but yesterday officials said that Ms Nagpal would be asked for an explanation and could face a chargesheet if her reply was "not satisfactory."
Ms Nagpal, a 2009-batch IAS officer, had in the last few weeks seized nearly 300 trolleys of sand mined illegally from the Yamuna river bed. She also formed special flying squads to check the menace of sand mining in the area.
Senior UP minister Azam Khan said yesterday, "Everyone has the right to natural resources - why be petty? This is nature's gift - if you can loot it, loot it."
Former UP chief minister and the Samajwadi Party's chief rival, Mayawati, has slammed the state government, saying, "It is difficult for honest officers to work in the state. The governor should protect them and impose central rule in the state."