Days after making allegations against IGP D Roopa, IPS Vartika Katiyar gets transferred
Bengaluru: Days after IPS officer Vartika Katiyar made serious allegations against her superior, IGP D Roopa Moudgil, the Karnataka government on Monday transferred her from the Internal Security Division. Katiyar had accused Moudgil of directing police personnel to plant confidential documents from other departments in her chamber.
According to an official order issued by the state government, Vartika Katiyar has been transferred to the position of Deputy Inspector General of Police and Additional Commandant General, Home Guards, and Ex-Officio Additional Director, Civil Defence, Bengaluru. The government however, has not linked her transfer to her complaint.
Katiyar, a 2010-batch IPS officer, had filed a complaint on February 20 before Karnataka Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh, with a copy also marked to Director General of Police (DGP) Alok Mohan. In her complaint, she alleged that on September 6, 2024, head constable Manjunath TS and home guard Mallikarjun had entered her office and placed certain files there under the directions of D Roopa. She claimed that the personnel also took photographs of the documents and shared them on WhatsApp. According to her complaint, they had accessed her office by taking keys from the control room in her absence.
In addition to these allegations, Katiyar accused Moudgil of threatening her with a negative annual performance report. She stated that while she had come to know about this particular incident only recently, similar occurrences may have taken place in the past. She also warned that such incidents could be repeated in the future and held D Roopa directly responsible for any consequences.
D Roopa, a 2000-batch IPS officer, is currently awaiting promotion to the rank of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) from January 1, 2025. She has been a controversial figure in the Karnataka bureaucracy and was previously involved in a highly publicized dispute with IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri in 2023. The two officers remain entangled in a legal battle over their public accusations against each other.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
