A Chhattisgarh cadre IAS officer has been forced to resort to “Gandhigiri” after he was robbed of his wife’s jewellery while he was alighting from a bus at the Darbhanga bus stand. The IAS officer and his wife intend to sit on a dharna in front of the residence of the Darbhanga SSP to highlight the lackadaisical approach of the police.
Ajit Vasant, a 2013 batch IAS officer, who is currently posted in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, had got down at the Darbhanga bus stand on 23 October to change bus and reach his village in Madhubani. At that point, he realised that the bag containing his wife’s jewellery worth Rs 2 lakh which he was carrying, had gone missing. He was also accompanied by his wife Rupal.
The couple shared their trauma on Facebook and also lodged an FIR.
“He himself gathered all the evidence and gave it to the police, but then nothing happened. He would ring every police officer concerned seeking the status of the complaint, but the only reply that he got was that the police was trying. And this has been their standard answer for the past three months. If this is the way an IAS officer, who is seen as very influential, is treated, one can imagine the treatment that is meted out to a common man in such cases,” Rupal wrote on Facebook.
She said they have decided to raise their voice against the insensitivity of the police. “What is my husband’s fault? That he is an IAS officer? That he chose to be honest and travel by bus instead of asking someone to arrange a Xylo or Innova car for him?” Rupal asked.
After the Darbhanga police failed to act, Vasant approached the Bihar chief secretary, but was not given any concrete assurance. “Now, we have decided to sit on a peaceful dharna outside the residence of the Darbhanga SSP to highlight the insensitivity of the police,” Rupal added.