Jammu & Kashmir IPS officer Basant Rath has been suspended, on Tuesday, for ‘misconduct and misbehaviour,’ according a ministry of home affairs order.
The MHA order said, “J&K IPS officer Basant Rath has been suspended with immediate effect, in connection with repeated instances of gross misconduct and misbehaviour, which have been brought to the notice of the government.”
The senior officer, who was posted as IG, Civil Defence, in the union territory has been ordered not to leave the headquarters by J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh. Rath was immediately attached to police headquarters in Srinagar after the suspension.
A 2000 batch IPS officer, Rath had struck a chord for his humane way of dealing with people as IGP traffic in 2018 in Kashmir. He also won praise for helping Kashmiri students who were aspiring to appear for civil services exams.
Rath had attained celebrity status and people would often click selfies with him.
On June 25, the officer had written a letter to the station house office (SHO) of Gandhi Nagar police station in Jammu in which he had targeted Singh and said he feared for his security. The letter had gone viral, sparking a controversy.
“I am writing you to take note of my genuine apprehensions about my safety and reputation. I am doing it as a private citizen of the country. In my personal capacity, not as a civil servant. Not as a policeman," the letter read."I am not asking you to lodge an FIR against the person mentioned above. I am just asking you to make this letter a part of the daily diary at your police station...In case something bad happens to me, you should know whose number you should dial. With due respect."
The officer had also targeted a senior journalist in Kashmir in his tweets.
