Siddiqui: Fresh charge

Patna, March 15: Leader of the Opposition Abdul Bari Siddiqui today took the debate of “outsiders and insiders” in the state administration a step further when he alleged that the current district magistrate of Gopalganj, Pankaj Kumar Pal, was under the scanner in a murder case in Manipur.

“This shows the kind of officials the chief minister has imported to Bihar,” Siddiqui said.

Pal is a 2002-batch IAS officer of the Manipur-Tripura cadre.

The charge levelled by Siddiqui relates to the murder of the then subdivisional officer of Kasom Khullen in Ukhrul district of Manipur, Thingnam Kishan, and two others in February 2009 by cadres of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (I-M). Pal was then posted as the deputy commissioner of Ukhrul.

Siddiqui alleged that a joint action committee had investigated Kishan’s murder and held Pal guilty of being a conspirator in the crime.

Pal, however, denied he was ever made an accused in the murder case and stressed that his name did not figure in the FIR or the chargesheet in the case.

The officer was recently in the news when a school principal in Gopalganj, Madhuprabha Singh, allegedly tried to slap him after an altercation on use of unfair means by intermediate examinees. A case was lodged against the principal and she was arrested and sent to jail. Gopalganj district judge B.K. Singh today rejected the bail application of the principal.

Government sources said at no stage did the state seek Pal’s posting in Bihar and added that his name had been cleared for deputation by the Centre.

“Pal does not even belong to Bihar. The state has been pleading for more IAS and IPS officials. The Centre deputed Pal to Bihar. The Union government has its own mechanism to check the background of the officials. In this case, Pal was transferred for security reasons as there was a threat on his life from insurgent groups,” said an official.

Cadres of the NSCN (I-M) abducted Kishan, his driver Aribam Rajen Sharma and another official, Tumnam Token, from Ukhrul on February 14, 2009. Their dead bodies were recovered from Senapati district on February 17.

A complaint was lodged with then chief judicial magistrate Ukhrul, Th. Simon, by Th. Ibobhal Singh, father of Kishan, seeking registration of a case against Pal who was suspended for alleged involvement in the case.

The magistrate in turn forwarded the criminal complaint (No. CJM/ Ukhrul/09/49) to the officer-in-charge of Ukhrul police station on October 13, 2009.

Ibobhal filed a writ petition before the Imphal bench of Gauhati High Court seeking registration of a case against the suspended deputy commissioner after the police station concerned failed to register a case against the official.

The public outcry that followed forced the Okram Ibobi Singh government in Manipur to hand over the case to the CBI. The investigating agency submitted its report to the Ukhrul chief judicial magistrate on October 31 last year.

Sources in Imphal said no one was aware of the revocation of the suspension order on Pal and were surprised to find him holding key posts in Bihar.

Pal joined duty in Bihar in June 2010 and has since held various postings, including joint secretary, rural development, Chhapra district magistrate and chairman of Bridge Construction Corporation. He took over as Gopalganj district magistrate last month.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and leader of Opposition Siddiqui have often crossed swords over the “import” of officials from outside the state. During the current Assembly session, Siddiqui has charged Nitish with doling out key posts to officials having “blue blood”.

Nitish took strong exception to Siddiqui’s remark and claimed that the RJD was still bent on dividing the people and officials on caste lines.