Probe ‘entry mafia’, urges IAS Officers’ Association memorandum to CM

Patna,(BiharTimes): The Bihar chapter of IAS Officers Association (IASOA) on Thursday submitted a memorandum to the chief minister Nitish Kumar and urged him to order an independent and time-bound judicial inquiry by a sitting judge of the Patna high court to probe the functioning of the so-called ‘entry mafia’ including its mentors and the beneficiaries.

The six page memorandum expressed its deep pain and anguish over the manner in which the vigilance team has so far conducted the entire operation and arrested 2013 batch IAS officer Dr Jitendra Gupta.

“Certain aspects of the present matter have caused deep anguish amongst the members, and have warranted apprehension about their being maliciously and selective targeted in performance of duties,” the memorandum said.

The Association also said that falsehood is being spread about the officer being caught red-handed. This is totally incorrect.

The Association said that though Dr Gupta was arrested on July 12, the FIR was lodged only at 6:30 pm on July 13 and subsequently, he was produced before the judge late in the night, well after the office hours.

“The basic tenets of law, as laid by law and upheld by the Supreme Court from time to time, have not been adhered to in the midnight arrest of a serving SDO,” the memorandum said.

The memorandum, which was signed jointly by president of the Association Amita Paul, and its secretary Vivek Kumar Singh felt an urgent requirement of ensuring safeguards to all public servants
against the wilful high-handedness and witch hunt.