If the speculations in the political and media circles are to be believed, Andhra Pradesh director general of police R P Thakur is on the way out very soon.
According to these speculations, the Central government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leant to have decided to shift Thakur from the DGP post following a petition from YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy to Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora recently.
In all probability, senior IPS officer Gautam Sawang is likely to be made the DGP till the elections are completed.
Sawang had been sulking for being denied the DGP post, despite being senior to Thakur, who was preferred by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
Jagan demanded that Thakur be removed as the DGP, besides Additional Director General (Intelligence) A B Venkateshwar Rao and DIG (Law and Order-Coordination) Ghattamaneni Srinivas.
He alleged that the government is using the state police to suppress the voice of those who support the opposition parties.
He further alleged that the police were r gathering political intelligence, booking illegal cases, and harassing the opposition besides illegally tapping phone numbers of important political leaders.
Jagan was also angry with Thakur for the latter’s overaction in the knife attack on the former at Visakhapatnam airport in October last.
He accused Thakur of playing down the incident and trying to create evidences against YSRC.
It is not unusual to change the DGPs favourable to the ruling party before the elections, following complaint from the Opposition parties.
In 2009 elections, too, the EC transferred then DGP S P Yadav, who was believed to be a close confidant of then chief minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, following a complaint from Telugu Desam Party leaders.
Yadav was replaced by A K Mohanty, another senior IPS officer. But soon after YSR returned to power for a second term, he reinstated Yadav as the DGP for a second term.
