Controversy over police officer using pol party leader’s vehicle for official work

Patna, August 24  

A controversy erupted here on Saturday over a young IPS officer, the daughter of a top leader of the ruling JD(U) in Bihar, who reportedly used a vehicle owned by a party leader for travelling to a court in Delhi to seek the transit remand of an MLA.

Lipi Singh, currently posted as additional superintendent of police in charge of Barh sub-division of Patna district, went to the Saket court in Delhi and sought transit remand of Mokama MLA Anant Singh.

Anant Singh had surrendered in Saket court on Friday after dodging the Bihar Police for days.

Lipi Singh’s father Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, a former IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, is the JD(U) national general secretary and the party’s leader in the Rajya Sabha.

He is considered the second most powerful leader in JD(U) after Kumar.

Anant Singh, who has a long criminal record, was recently booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after an AK-47 rifle, a few hand grenades and some ammunition were seized by the police from his ancestral house during a raid.

He has claimed that the house had been unoccupied for long and accused the ruling dispensation in the state, specially leaders of JD(U), of falsely implicating him out of political vendetta.

After the ASP obtained a transit remand for the MLA, reports surfaced in the media here that the vehicle used by her to reach the court on Saturday allegedly belonged to JD(U) MLC Ranveer Nandan.

The car though belonging to a member of the state legislative council allegedly carried a sticker used by a member of Parliament.

This is a serious matter. Anant Singh has for long been casting doubts on the impartiality of the police officer in question besides challenging the allegations levelled against himself.

The use of a vehicle belonging to the ruling party by a police officer for discharging her duties only makes the suspicion stronger, Congress MLC Prem Chandra Mishra said here.

She could have used any government vehicle or any other party vehicle. But a police officer on duty using the vehicle owned by a political leader is not acceptable by any standards.

The Congress demands that the matter be probed though we have no objection to law taking its own course in the matter against Anant Singh, he said.

Anant Singh’s wife Neelam Devi had contested the Lok Sabha elections this year from Munger, under which Mokama assembly segment falls.

She had lost to JD(U) leader in Lok Sabha Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan, a close aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Reacting to the controversy, JD(U) spokesman Sanjay Singh said, Is it a crime to use a vehicle owned by a leader of our party ? I do not know if the vehicle belongs to Ranbir Nandan who is our respected leader. But I am aghast that the discourse has shifted away from an MLA evading arrest after being booked in a case of grave nature and giving himself up before a court far away upon realising that he would not be able to escape the long arms of the law.

Prem Ranjan Patel, the spokesman for BJP which shares power in the state, said, “I do not think there is anything objectionable in a police officer using a vehicle owned by a political leader.”

He said normally vehicles are available at the Bihar Niwas in Delhi for use by government officials. But there are days when there is a heavy rush of visitors and the vehicles are engaged elsewhere. “

Maybe today was one such day, he added. — PTI