By IANS
Lucknow : The Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh Sunday sacked another 7,400 policemen, citing irregularities in their appointment by the previous regime – taking to a staggering 17,000 the number of police personnel fired in recent weeks.
Principal Home Secretary J.N. Chamber announced the government decision at a press conference here.
Chief Minister Mayawati, who came to power in May after defeating Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, had set up a one-man commission to probe the alleged irregularities in what appeared to be a large-scale recruitment scam in the Uttar Pradesh police.
The government started firing cops from Sep 11 after inquiry officer Shailja Kant Misra, additional director general of the state’s Special Task Force (STF), submitted his report.
Seven senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers were also suspended for their alleged role in the scam, taking the total number of such officers to 25.
They include superintendents of police, deputy inspectors general, inspectors general and an additional director general.
While 6,500 policemen were fired in the first round, 3,964 were shown the door on Sep 18, followed by 7,400 Sunday.
About 22,000 fresh recruitments were made in various wings of the state police during the three-and-half-year long Yadav rule.
Chamber said: “Only nine of the 51 recruitment boards that carried out the selections were given a clean chit by the inquiry officer. However, a final decision on these is to be taken by the government.”
Some of the sacked cops sought intervention of the high court, which declined to grant a stay. However, it has restrained the government from making fresh recruitments until it settled the matter.