Gujarat police agencies in face-off over businessman's complaint
Ahmedabad: A tussle between two key units of Gujarat Police has put the top state leadership in an awkward spot. A complaint filed by a Vadodara-based chemical businessman has triggered a face-off between the CID (Crime) and the State Monitoring Cell (SMC), exposing internal fault lines and prompting emergency meetings among senior officers.
The dispute surfaced after two junior personnel from the DIG Nirlipt Rai-headed SMC, which reports directly to DGP Vikas Sahay, entered the office of DIG Parikshita Rathod of CID (Crime) earlier this week. They questioned her and another IPS officer about pending files related to complaints, including one involving a Rs 15 crore fraud allegedly committed by a foreign company.
"She initially responded as they cited instructions from the DGP," said a senior police officer.
"But beyond a point, she refused to entertain the two officers who were junior to her. The two were asked to leave the CID (Crime) office," said a police source.
The fallout led to the suspension of a PSI for delay in processing an application. The businessman, known to be close to a senior IPS officer formerly posted in CID (Crime), had approached police higher-ups with support from another IPS officer of the 2013 batch after he felt no action was being taken on his complaint.
A source in CID (Crime) said, "The complaint was filed four months ago. No steps were taken. The 2013-batch officer informed Rai about the case, who apprised DGP Sahay about the issue."
The internal tensions became widely discussed by Thursday night. By Friday morning, DGP Sahay convened a closed-door meeting with DIG Rathod, the second IPS officer, and DIG Rai to de-escalate the matter.
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