District police chiefs' postings on sale in UP: Noida SSP

Noida : In what seems to be a well organised transfer-posting racket flourishing in Uttar Pradesh, the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Noida has revealed to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that huge amounts ranging from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 80 lakh, were being offered to seek plum posts of district police chiefs in the State.

The SSP has named at least 5 Indian Police Service (IPS) officers of UP cadre involved in the racket. In a confidential letter addressed to the Director General of Police (DGP) and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, UP, the SSP Noida, Vaibhav Krishna has disclosed that mobile phone recordings of 5 IPS officers, which includes details of WhatsApp communication, shows that for the plum post of SSP, Meerut, a deal was struck between an IPS officer and a power-broker for Rs 80 lakh.

The letter mentions that details of the deal emerged during the investigation of case(806/19 section 2(B)4,2(B)8,2(B)11) of the Gangsters Act in which 4 persons were arrested on August 23, 2019, in Noida.

Confirming the letter, SSP Vaibhav Krishna told IANS that he has given details about a highly organised syndicate involved in transfer-posting racket to the government last month.

"Once I brought the racket to the notice of the Chief Minister, the syndicate has been trying to corner me. Recently they circulated a morphed obscene video, editing my pictures in three video clips to malign my image," the SSP said.

The SSP Noida''s explosive letter to CM, further reveals that another UP cadre IPS officer offered Rs 50 lakh for the post of SSP, Agra. For the post of SSP, Bareilly, the amount offered was Rs 40 lakh. Similarly the rate for the post of SP, Bijnor, was Rs 30 lakh, as per the letter, reviewed by IANS.

The syndicate run by a nexus of powerful bureaucrats and politicians also had a few journalists which played key roles in negotiating deals. All deals were brought to light when various phone conversations and messages were retrieved by the cyber team of the police.

During the investigation, the Cyber team also retrieved few recorded conversations from the accused''s mobile phones which relates to transport racket operating in Banda district of UP.

The phone conversation reveals that one person from Ghaziabad had approached a top officer of the Banda police to clear trucks from his district area, for a particular amount.

The conversation also reveals the details of bank accounts where the payments were to be transferred. Though the SSP, Noida did not divulge information about his correspondence with the Chief Minister''s office, he did mention that the powerful syndicate involved in the transfer-posting racket was trying to hush up the investigation.