Home ministry recommends disciplinary action against former CBI director Alok Verma
New Delhi: The Union home ministry has recommended disciplinary action against former CBI director Alok Verma for allegedly misusing his official position and violating the relevant service rules, officials said on Wednesday.
They said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has written to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the nodal ministry for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), to take necessary disciplinary action against Verma.
The action, if approved, may include temporary or permanent forfeiture of Verma's pension and retirement benefits, the officials said.
During his stint in the CBI, Verma, a 1979-batch (retired) Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, was engaged in a bitter fight with Gujarat-cadre IPS officer and his deputy Rakesh Asthana over corruption charges.
Both Verma and Asthana had accused each other of corruption.
Asthana is the Delhi Police Commissioner now.
"Verma has been accused of misusing his official position and violating service rules. Necessary action has been recommended against him by the home ministry," a senior official said, requesting anonymity.
The home ministry is the cadre controlling authority for IPS officers.
The DoPT has forwarded the MHA's recommendation to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), the recruitment body for IPS officers, the officials said.
The UPSC needs to be consulted before imposing penalty on IPS officers, they said.
Verma took over as the CBI chief on February 1, 2017 for a fixed two-year tenure.
However, he was removed from the post on January 10, 2019 and posted as the director general of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards -- a less significant portfolio.
Verma did not accept the offer and wrote to the government, saying he should be considered as deemed superannuated as he has completed 60 years age of superannuation on July 31, 2017.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
EC demands extra security as unrest grips Bangladesh afresh
Dhaka (PTI): The Election Commission (EC) has demanded extra security for its chief, other commissioners and officials as fresh unrest visibly gripped Bangladesh after gunmen shot an upcoming parliamentary polls candidate and frontline leader of last year's violent street movement dubbed 'July Uprising'.
"The EC has written to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) urging comprehensive security arrangements for the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Election Commissioners (ECs), senior officials of the Election Commission Secretariat," the state-run BSS news agency reported on late Saturday.
The EC simultaneously sought the extra security for its field-level offices ahead of the 13th national election, as two of them came under attack in southeastern Lakshmipur and southwestern Pirojpur by unidentified miscreants after the announcement of the schedule for the upcoming polls on Thursday.
The commission demanded an additional escort vehicle for the CEC, while one such police escort with a vehicle was currently in place for him. It asked for round-the-clock police escorts for the four commissioners and the senior secretary.
The letter said the enhanced security measures were "urgent and necessary," while EC officials said their 10 regional offices, 64 district election offices and 522 sub-district level offices would store important documents and election materials.
The EC on Thursday said the upcoming parliamentary election would be held on February 12 next year, while a day later, Sharif Osman Hadi was shot from a close range in the head, critically wounding him, as he initiated his election campaign from a constituency in the capital.
Critically ill former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) simultaneously asked Muhammad Yunus' government to provide security for all candidates in the upcoming election after the attack on Hadi, who leads a radical right-wing cultural group called Inquiab Mancha.
"We demand that the real culprit be identified immediately and brought under the law, and we call upon this government to ensure the security of all candidates without delay," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.
Hadi was also a frontline leader of last year's student-led violent uprising that toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024.
His Inquilab Mancha was also at the forefront of a campaign to disband the Awami League, which the interim government complied with in May this year, disqualifying the party from contesting the polls.
The government on Saturday ordered a nationwide security clampdown called 'Operation Devil Hunt 2' amid escalated fears over the law and order situation and promised to issue firearms licenses for election candidates for their own security.
Home adviser (retd) Lieutenant General Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said the government had taken steps to ensure special security for the "frontline fighters" of the July Uprising and promised to issue firearms licenses for the election candidates.
He emphasised that the second phase of the 'Devil Hunt' was aimed at helping ensure public safety and combat the growing threat of illegal arms.
The operation was initially launched in February this year following protests over an attack on the private house of a former minister of the ousted government in the northern suburb of the capital, when it targeted alleged "henchmen" and supporters of the now disbanded Awami League.
