Rathore was removed from the post following a sting operation showing him accepting favours from Mohinder Singh Pandher.
LUCKNOW: The state government on Saturday transferred Noida SSP RKS Rathore and suspended Noida Circle Officer (CO) Dinesh Yadav amidst reports that the CBI, probing the case, might initiate decisive action against the two officers for gross dereliction of duty in the Nithari serial killings case.
The move is seen as the Mulayam government's attempt to pre-empt major embarrassment. CBI sources told DNA that the agency was indeed preparing to lodge FIRs against Rathore and Yadav. Rajeev Sabbarwal, till now SSP, Ardh Kumbh (Allahabad), is the new Noida SSP.
There is much surprise in police circles here over how Rathore got away with just a transfer while his predecessor Piyush Mordia had been suspended on similar charges related to the Nithari case.
Dinesh Yadav belongs to Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's home district of Etawah and is known to enjoy close proximity with Mulayam's brother Shivpal Yadav, who is the state PWD Minister.
Moninder Singh Pandher, main accused in the Nithari case, is also known to have links with another influential Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and a Noida-based industrialist, both of whom helped him avoid the long arm of the law.
Interestingly, the announcement of the action against Rathore and Yadav was made not by any official spokesman but by Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh who had called a press conference on an entirely unrelated subject. However, pushed against a wall by a barrage of posers on Nithari, Amar Singh revealed the transfer and suspension of the two officers which was still to be formalised then.
"Civil and police officials keep talking to ministers as part of protocol. It's not a big thing and there is nothing wrong in it," Amar Singh said. He also vehemently denied the reports of Shivpal Yadav having close links with Dinesh Yadav.
A recent media expose has revealed that Yadav had close links with Shivpal Yadav, and that he was on Pandher's pay-roll. Dinesh Yadav helped Moninder Singh all along, said the widely publicised media report.
Despite the expose, on Friday Dinesh Yadav was merely transferred to Agra while no action was recommended against Rathore. In fact, on Thursday, Shivpal Yadav, questioned by reporters on Dinesh Yadav's role, had said: "Usay to inaam milna chahiye… bahaduri ka kaam kiya hai, achcha kaam kiya hai." (He should be rewarded for his bravery and good work.)
This, when the two-member committee of Additional DG AC Sharma and Home Secretary AK Singh, which made an on-the-spot inquiry in Nithari, had said in its report that both Yadav and Rathore were guilty of gross dereliction of duty.
With inputs from Agencies
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