Noida SSP suspended, 14 cops transferred

NOIDA/LUCKNOW: Vaibhav Krishna, the Noida police chief who had last year filed a report to the government about a statewide cash-for-postings racket in the police force, was suspended on Thursday. The UP government also transferred all 14 cops named in Krishna's report - including five IPS officers among whom were Ghaziabad SSP Sudhir Singh and former Noida SSP Ajay Pal Sharma - and ordered an inquiry by a three-member committee.
Krishna’s replacement is yet to be named. Lucknow SSP Kalanidhi Naithani has been appointed the new Ghaziabad police chief.
The decision to suspend Krishna was taken after the Forensic Science Laboratory in Gujarat confirmed there was no tampering in leaked videos of Krishna’s alleged sex chats, officials said. The Noida SSP had described the videos as “morphed” and part of an “organised attempt” to malign him.
Noida SSP suspended for the second time
Vaibhav Krishna had also linked the leaks to the “confidential” report he had sent to the government thrice last year and filed an FIR against unknown persons for morphing and sharing the videos. Details of Krishna’s report were shared within a day of the videos being leaked, earning the Noida SSP a censure from Uttar Pradesh Police chief O P Singh for violation of service rules.
This is the second time Krishna has been suspended. He was police chief of Bulandshahr in July 2016 when a woman and her daughter were ambushed and raped on a highway. The Akhilesh Yadav government had subsequently placed under suspension the entire police brass of the district.
The three-member committee that will probe the charges Krishna has levelled against other policemen will be headed by director general (vigilance) H C Awasthi. Its other members are IG (special task force) Amitabh Yash and Jal Nigam MD Vikas Gothalwal.
The other IPS officers named in the report are Rajeev Narain Mishra (SSP, special task force), Himanshu Kumar (SP, Sultanpur) and Ganesh Saha (SP, Banda). Krishna had also accused Diwakar Khare, director of the media cell in the chief secretary’s office, and PCS officers Rajneesh and Gulshan Kumar of being involved in the cash-for-postings racket.
Sharma, who as Rampur SP got more than 50 cases lodged against SP MP Azam Khan, has been transferred to Police Training Centre in Unnao. SP Etawah Santosh Mishra has replaced Sharma. Mishra has been transferred to Provincial Armed Constabulary Moradabad as SSP while Kumar has been shifted to PAC Etawah and Saha moved to the human rights wing as SP. Sudhir Singh has been moved to Agra as commandant of the 15th battalion of PAC. A former UP Police chief told TOI all these postings were considered as “secondrung” posts by serving officers.
Krishna was appointed as Noida SSP on January 7, 2019. Soon after, Noida witnessed a spate of arrests of “tainted officers”, beginning with Station House Officer (SHO) Manoj Pant. However, his tenure was also marked by allegations of harassing mediapersons.
ADG Lucknow zone SN Sabat will probe the controversy around the video leaks. Sabat will also conduct a departmental inquiry against Krishna, who stands charged with misconduct because of the videos.
Till a new SSP is named, Superintendent of Police (City) Ankur Aggarwal will hold charge of the district.