Gupteshwar Pandey was cautious while speaking about his reported plans but did not rule out politics.
Bihar police chief Gupteshwar Pandey, after quitting service last evening, said today that his decision had nothing to do with the Sushant Singh Rajput case, which has become a huge political talking point ahead of the state's election just weeks away. But politics is definitely on his agenda and he made it clear as he told the media that he would decide on "how best to serve society" after speaking to the public.
Mr Pandey's request for voluntary retirement was approved on Tuesday by the Bihar government, which has waived a three-month mandatory cooling-off period. Reports suggest he is keen on contesting the Bihar election as a candidate of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from Sahpur in Buxar district.
The former police officer, having ditched his khaki uniform for a casual black tee-shirt and saffron scarf, was non-committal about contesting the election but he stressed that he was no longer bound by any service rules or government code of conduct.
"I am no longer DGP (Director General of Police) as of today. So no government rule applies to me anymore. As for what I will do... people are coming from Buxar, Jehanabad, Begusarai, many other districts...people are coming to me. I will speak to people as to how they want my service and then take a decision," Mr Pandey, 59, told reporters.
"I have not said that I will contest polls yet," he insisted, when asked whether he was angling for a chance to contest the state election.
"I haven't joined any party. When I do I will tell all of you. Politics is not the only way of serving society."
When pressed about his transition from "khaki to khadi", he shot back: "What is wrong in politics? The system, legislature, everything exists because of politics. You and I are part of that system. There is nothing unconstitutional or illegal about joining politics? I may take the decision but only after speaking to people."
Defending his decision to quit, he said there had been "thousands of calls" over the past two months, during the Sushant Singh Rajput case controversy, asking whether he would resign. "There was so much confusion that bias during polls became a question. If I had been DGP during the election, I would have been accused of bias," Mr Pandey told NDTV.
The former police officer never hid his political ambitions. In 2009, Mr Pandey had requested early retirement, reportedly to contest the national election from the Buxar parliamentary constituency. The state government rejected his application and on Nitish Kumar's intervention, he returned to service.
Today, he claimed that his 2009 move was over "personal reasons" but added: "It is true that I am interested in politics. But I was anari (naïve) then and I am anari now."
Mr Pandey was instrumental in the Bihar government's push in the Sushant Singh Rajput investigations after his family filed a case in Patna blaming his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty.
After the Supreme Court endorsed the CBI investigation recommended by the Bihar government, Mr Pandey, as police chief, bragged that Rhea Chakraborty "does not have the aukat (stature)" to comment on the Chief Minister. He was referring to her remarks in the top court about the Nitish Kumar government using the Sushant Rajput investigation for political capital.
He defended his comments even today. "The word aukat means stature. I only said that Nitish Kumar is Chief Minister and Rhea Chakraborty had no right to make comments on him," she said.
In earlier statements to the media, Mr Pandey had admitted that the Sushant Singh Rajput case had turned political and said it was "unfortunate" that "allegations were being made against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar" - comments that were seen to be unusually political for an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.
On Nitish Kumar's role in his big career move, he said: "Our Chief Minister is very professional. He likes those who work with the system. But it was my decision."
He rubbished the charge that he wanted to leverage his involvement in the Sushant Singh Rajput investigation for his political debut.
"Only those who feel threatened by me and have a low mentality will say such things," he said, adding, "If we fought for justice for Sushant Singh Rajput, as a DGP, whatever I did, the Supreme Court endorsed and called it above board."