Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Kalpana Nayak has alleged that an attempt was made on her life after she exposed irregularities in police recruitment. In a complaint addressed to Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP) and Head of Police Force Shankar Jiwal, she has called for an unbiased investigation into a fire that destroyed her office chamber in Chennai on 29 July 2024.
According to her complaint, the fire occurred just days after she flagged discrepancies in the implementation of communal reservation in the recruitment of Sub-Inspectors, constables, prison warders, and firemen under the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board (TNUSRB). She stated that her intervention had prevented an adverse ruling from the Madras High Court, which could have embarrassed the Tamil Nadu government. However, she believed that exposing these issues had put her life in danger and resulted in damage to government property.
Concerns Over Recruitment Irregularities
Ms. Nayak stated that in March 2023, she had submitted a detailed report highlighting serious lapses in the implementation of communal reservation in the TNUSRB recruitment process. However, she alleged that her concerns were ignored at the time.
Despite this, an inquiry by The Hindu revealed that the then DGP of TNUSRB had later formed a sub-committee to review the discrepancies and revise the final selection list of candidates. Following a writ petition that raised concerns over recruitment flaws, the Madras High Court had directed the authorities to rectify the selection list.
Fire Incident At TNUSRB Headquarters
On 29 July 2024, just before Ms. Nayak was about to reach the TNUSRB headquarters in Egmore, Chennai, a senior police officer reportedly called her and advised her not to come to office, citing a fire that had broken out in her chamber. However, she had already arrived at the premises by then.
She later inspected her chamber and found that her chair had been completely charred. She believed that if she had reached her office a little earlier, she could have been in grave danger. She pointed out that the fire incident occurred on the same day she was supposed to check and clear the revised list of selected candidates, raising suspicions about a possible connection.
The fire, which was attributed to a short circuit in the air-conditioning system, destroyed her office. However, she suspected foul play, given the timing of the incident and the absence of immediate action from the authorities.
Ms. Nayak alleged that even 15 days after the fire, no action was taken against any staff member. On 15 August 2024, she lodged a formal complaint with DGP Shankar Jiwal and marked copies to the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, and Commissioner of Police, Chennai, urging a thorough investigation into what she described as a possible case of sabotage.
She further alleged that a day after the fire, the revised list of selected candidates was published on the TNUSRB website without her scrutiny and approval. She also pointed out that no immediate inquiry was conducted into possible lapses by the office maintenance team.
She expressed concern that if a senior police officer’s safety could not be ensured in her own office, even while being surrounded by other police personnel, it reflected poorly on the state of law enforcement in Tamil Nadu.
When contacted by The Hindu, Ms. Nayak confirmed that she had filed the complaint and stated that six months had passed without any update from the investigators. She emphasized the need for a thorough and unbiased investigation and urged authorities to take action against those responsible for the fire.
Responding to the allegations, DGP Shankar Jiwal said that preliminary inquiries suggested an electrical short circuit as the cause of the fire. He added that a team from the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services had inspected the site and found no initial evidence of sabotage.
However, he acknowledged that Ms. Nayak had raised concerns, and as a result, the matter had been referred to the Chennai Police for further investigation.
(With inputs from The Hindu)
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