Suspension of IAS officer condemned

IANS/New DelhiThe Congress party yesterday condemned the suspension of IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer Durga Shakti Nagpal by the Uttar Pradesh government but added it does not support “arbitrary demolition” of a mosque wall in Noida.Talking to reporters here, Congress spokesperson Bhakta Charan Das said that the officer was suspended as she had taken action against the sand mafia. “The Congress condemns the suspension of an honest officer,” he said.Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had on Thursday defended his government’s action of suspending the IAS officer and said unilateral decision of the official could have led to communal trouble.Nagpal, who took on the sand mining mafia in Greater Noida (Gautam Budh Nagar), was suspended on July 28. Meanwhile the BJP said Nagpal’s suspension was a clear message that “honesty will be punished and criminal behaviour rewarded” in Uttar Pradesh.The issue was being used for electoral gains, the party further said. Questioning the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) on whether any officials were suspended for the “27 riots that have taken place” in the state during its rule, Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said Nagpal’s suspension was a ploy to demoralise honest administrative officials. She said the SP was seeking to inflame religious anger in a bid to pick up votes. Lekhi said Nagpal’s suspension was “unlawful” and that she had only followed the orders of higher officials.Supporting Nagpal, the BJP spokesperson said she was an honest and hardworking officer who had seized more than 24 truckloads of illegally mined sand and arrested several members of the sand mafia.“She impounded 297 vehicles and collected a fine of over Rs80mn,” Lekhi said. The BJP spokesperson also said that illegal dredging on the banks of Yamuna by “sand mining gangs of Gautam Budh Nagar” was causing ecological damage and destroying the marine environment.