An alleged plan to carry out a poison attack on IAS officers, and employees of the Gujarat state secretariat was foiled by an alert sweeper.
An alleged plan to carry out a poison attack on IAS officers, senior government officials, visitors, and employees of the Gujarat state secretariat was foiled by an alert sweeper on Monday.
When he arrived for duty at the energy and petrochemicals department on the fifth floor of Block 5 of the secretariat, the sweeper claims to have found the lock of the water cooler’s cover broken and the water in the cooler laced with deadly anti-termite pesticide. He found a sachet of the pesticide in the cooler and an empty 500gm sachet of the pesticide on the floor behind the machine.
Block 5 is adjacent to Block 1, where the offices of chief minister Narendra Modi and members of his cabinet are located. Senior bureaucrats, including S Jagdeesan, principal secretary in the energy and petrochemicals department, sit on the fifth floor of this block which houses other key departments such as industries and education and hosts hundreds of visitors every day.
The news of the alleged poisoning of drinking water in the cooler spread like wildfire in the secretariat, causing panic among government employees.
However, no senior official of the energy and petrochemicals department or the secretariat’s security department has lodged a police complaint.
Employees of the department gave a written complaint to Jagdeesan, requesting that a police complaint be lodged. But Jagdeesan is said to have declined. According to sources, he did not want a complaint to be lodged now in the heat of the general election.
The employees then gave a written complaint to the Gujarat Sachivalaya Staff Federation.
Federation president Manu Patel confirmed receiving the letter. He said they would request Jagdeesan to lodge a police complaint. “If he does not respond, we will complain to the principal sectary of the home department and ask him to take necessary action,” he said.
Despite several attempts, Jagdeesan could not be contacted for comment.
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