EC orders removal of Jharkhand acting DGP over history of misconduct allegations

The Election Commission of India on Saturday directed the Jharkhand state government to immediately remove the acting director general of police (DGP) Anurag Gupta and to submit a compliance report to that effect by 7pm, owing to a history of complaints and actions taken by the poll panel during previous elections, an ECI official said on the condition of anonymity. The senior most DP level officer available in the cadre will be made the acting DGP and the poll panel has directed the state government to submit recommendations of senior IPS officers by 10am, October 21.
During the 2019 general elections, Gupta was relieved of his duties as the state’s additional director general of police (special branch) after the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, in a complaint, accused him of biased conduct. As a result, he was reassigned to resident commissioner’s office in Delhi and barred from returning to the state until the election process was completed.
Earlier, during the Rajya Sabha elections in 2016, Gupta, then additional DGP, had faced charges of misuse of authority because of which the poll body had constituted an inquiry committee. On the basis of the findings, a chargesheet was issued against him for departmental inquiry. A case under sections 171B (bribery during elections), 171C (undue influence at elections), 171E (punishment for bribery) and 171F (punishment for undue influence or personation at an election) of the Indian Penal Code were registered against him in March 2018 in Jagannathpur police station. In 2021, the Jharkhand government gave permission for an investigation against him under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.