CM HDK bows to ‘political pressure’, finally shunts IAS officer Rohini out of Hassan

BENGALURU/HASSAN: IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri Dasari, who took on the powerful sand mafia as Hassan deputy commissioner, was on Friday transferred to an insignificant post on Friday ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The official line from the government was that the Election Commission of India had, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, directed that all transfers be completed before February 25.Sources in the government, however, said chief minister HD Kumaraswamy was “under pressure” from party ranks to transfer Sindhuri and ADGP (intelligence ) Amar Kumar Pandey, appointed by Kumaraswamy’s predecessor and political nemesis BS Yeddyurappa when he was CM for three days last May.
Rohini has been posted as secretary, Karnataka Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board in Bengaluru. Sources said she was shunted out under pressure from Hassan JD(S) and Congress leaders upset over her cracking the whip on the sand mafia.
An upset Rohini did not turn up to hand over charge to her successor Akram Pasha on Friday and sources close to her said she may move court again to question the “motive and timing” of her transfer.
Rohini took over as Hassan DC on July 17, 2017. She came in the line of fire of the local sand mafia and politicians for taking on illegal mining and transportation of sand, which was rampant in the Hemavathi river bed in Sakaleshpura, Beluru and Aluru.
She drew the ire of political bosses, including former minister A Manju, who was also in charge of the district. The rift between the minister and the IAS officer widened and pressure mounted on Siddaramaiah to transfer her. When the Siddaramaiah government shunted her out of the district on January 22, 2018, Rohini fought a legal battle against the transfer.
Rohini had approached the Central Administrative Tribunal, stating that she was eligible to continue in the post of Hassan DC for two years as per the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Amendment Rules, 2014. Rohini also alleged in her petition that her transfer was due to “political pressure” local politicians exerted on Siddaramaiah following her offensive against the mining mafia.