Inspector general (IG) of Bihar Police (homeguard & fire services) Vikas Vaibhav, who has gone public with his grievances against his boss, director general Shobha Ohotker, on Monday sought a transfer out of the department and sanction of a 60-day leave he had earlier applied for, officials familiar with the matter said.
Vaibhav, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of 2003 batch, who had last week accused Ohotker of using foul language at meetings in a tweet he has since deleted, has now written to Bihar’s additional chief secretary (home) Chaitanya Prasad, saying it is difficult for him to continue to work under the “current DG due to continued mental harassment since he joined four months ago”.
“… I assumed charge as IG (homeguards and fire services) on October 10. Since then, every day, I was unnecessarily getting abuses from the ‘DG madam’, who addressed me as “Bloody IG” in front of other officials. Officers and staff are called Bihari. Because of this, I felt mentally tortured and could not sleep the whole night due to insult. In a disturbed state of mind, I posted a tweet around 1.43 am. However, after a few minutes, I felt should not have tweeted and it would be better to apply for leave. So, I deleted the tweet,” Vaibhav has said in the letter, which has been seen by HT.
The officer, who was issued a show cause by Ohotker after his tweet last week, has also sought more time to reply to the notice. “Instead of feeling guilty for indisciplined and undignified behaviour, the DG served me show cause notice and asked me to reply within 24 hours,which shows her intent to further harass me mentally. It is pertinent to note that the Supreme Court has clearly defined reasonable opportunity to reply, which is at least a week. Please increase the time period from 7 days to 14 days,” he said.
In his letter, Vaibhav has also expressed apprehensions of an “untoward incident at workplace” and “safety of family members”.
“… In view in my special circumstances, considering the safety of my innocent family members, kindly post me temporarily on any other post free from the control of the present DG. If, for some reasons, this arrangement is not possible, kindly grant my leave,” he has said in the letter.
Neither Vaibhav not Ohotker responded to calls for a comment.
Meanwhile, Congress legislature party (CLP) leader Ajeet Sharma came out in support of Vaibhav and sought action against Ohotker. “We have highest regard for women. However, it’s unbecoming of an officer to insult another officer,” said Sharma.
The Congress leader, however, said Vaibhav, otherwise an officer of high integrity, should not put the matter on the social media and instead talk to his superiors or the CM to sort out the issue.
