J&K Police Chief Vaid Removed From Post
SRINAGAR: SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir police chief S P Vaid was unceremoniously removed late Thursday and shunted as the Transport Commissioner amid serious differences with the governor and a controversy over the release of terrorists in exchange for kidnapped people.
Though the militants had set free all the 11 within hours of their abduction on August 31, the incident left the top brass of the J&K police embarrassed and gave rise to speculation about a reshuffle within police ranks and the removal of Vaid.
Director General of Prison Dilbagh Singh was directed to look after the force until a regular appointment was made.The official order to this effect was issued late Thursday by Principal Secretary, Home, R K Goyal.
Mr Vaid’s rift with the new governor Satya Pal Malik widened after he was stripped of crucial administrative powers, including the sanctioning of operational funds, and his junior Munir Khan was allocated some of his functions.
Mr Vaid had registered his protest with the governor as well as the central home ministry. But central officials said there were reports of corruption and malpractices at the police headquarters, and the state vigilance department is examining embezzlement allegations.
More recently, the centre blamed him for the kidnapping fiasco, in which a terrorist’s father was freed in exchange for the kidnapped family members of policemen last week. On Tuesday evening, state intelligence chief Abdul Gani Mir was also replaced by Dr B Srinivas.
Three policemen and eight relatives of policemen, kidnapped by terrorists in south Kashmir, were set free hours after the police quietly released around a dozen family members of terrorists, including the father of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Riaz Naikoo.
SP Vaid, a 1986-batch IPS officer, had been appointed as the Director General of Police in December, 2016. He is due to retire in October next year. Dilbagh Singh, who has been made the in-charge Director General of Police, is a 1987-batch officer.
He was made the head of the prison department in March after the infamous escape of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Naved Jhatt while the latter was on a routine health check-up at a city hospital in February.
Singh, during his tenure as Director General of Prisons, streamlined many things, including the removal of hardened terrorists from Kashmir jails. He will have a regular appointment only after his name is cleared by the UPSC. (With Agency Inputs ).
