Was involved in graft case in Ramnagar
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 3: An IPS officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre, who was involved in a corruption case here but his prosecution sanction was denied by the General Administration Department (GAD) “under pressure by IPS lobby”, has been arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Rajasthan in graft case, where he was posted on inter-cadre deputation.
The IPS officer Manish Aggarwal belongs to 2010 batch of Jammu and Kashmir cadre and has been arrested under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, by the ACB Rajasthan.
Aggarwal, who had served as Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Ramnagar in Udhampur district, was involved in a case in which a petrol pump owner, Neeraj Meena, was arrested for allegedly demanding money from a construction firm on the officer’s behalf.
Along with the petrol pump owner, the ACB Rajasthan has also arrested two officers of Rajasthan Administrative Services for taking bribe from the company.
Aggarwal was posted as the Commandant of the State Disaster Response Force, Jaipur. Prior to that, he had served as Superintendent of Police at Dausa.
The ACB Jammu, then known as the Vigilance Organization Jammu (VOJ) had registered First Information Report (FIR) No. 20 in the year 2015 against Manish Aggarwal when he was posted as the SDPO Ramnagar. He was accused of releasing two suspects in an abetment to suicide case of a 21-year-old girl in Ramnagar during his tenure as SDPO in lieu of getting Rs 2.2 lakh.
Aggarwal’s then `Karyakhas constable’ Yudhvir Singh had also been arrayed as an accused by the Vigilance Organization.
Surprisingly, the General Administration Department had accorded prosecution sanction against constable Yudhvir Singh only but reflected sanction in the website in such a way as if sanction has been given for both accused persons.
The GAD didn’t give sanction to prosecute Aggarwal reportedly under pressure by IPS lobby.
In view of this, the Vigilance Organization Jammu had to produce case in the Udhampur Session Court pending prosecution sanction by the GAD against Aggarwal.
Constable Yudhvir Singh challenged production of challan in the High Court and was granted stay order.
The Vigilance Organization Jammu had registered another complaint on the basis of press conference held by Havaldar Ashok Kumar of Jammu and Kashmir Police, then posted at Ramnagar in which he had leveled serious allegations of corruption against Aggarwal.
Enquiry Officer Kamal Sangra, then Inspector Vigilance Organization Jammu had reportedly recommended registration of FIR against Aggarwal after detailed enquiry into the matter. However, the second FIR was not registered and a lobby tried its best to scuttle the first FIR by influencing the authorities responsible for granting prosecution sanction.
Constable Yudhvir Singh, who challenged the ACB charge sheet and also figured in verification was posted by the Police Headquarters in CID Ramnagar i.e. his home town where he exploited the poor innocent citizens,” sources said.
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