IPS association gets new life

After remaining defunct for nearly two years, the Gujarat IPS Association has finally pulled up its socks and formed a new committee at a meeting on Friday evening.

As many as 65 officers came together to form the new body where Rakesh Asthana, the Surat commissioner of police, was elected president and additional director-general of police (ADGP), law and order, A K Singh appointed vice-president. Unlike earlier bodies, the newly appointed body has decided to meet on a regular basis.

State intelligence bureau DIG JK Bhatt was appointed secretary while Valsad superintendent of police Nipuna Torwane was selected joint secretary. Sanjay Shrivastava, commissioner of police, headquarters (Ahmedabad), was appointed treasurer of the association.

Ashish Bhatia, E Radhakrishnan, Shamsher Singh, Anupamsinh Gehlot, Gagandeep Gambhir and Rajendra Asari were appointed members of the executive committee.

“Some differences continue to simmer. But with a brand new team, we can deal with that,” said an officer, who was present at the meeting.

The association has decided that issues like long-pending promotions of officers along with other service-related issues would be taken up on a priority basis. “The last issue on which the association rallied was providing security to IPS officers, which was done,” said an officer.

The association also decided to donate a day’s salary to the families of police officers who lost their lives during the rescue operation in Uttarakhand.

The past seven years have been particularly difficult for IPS officers in Gujarat with up to 10 officers involved in cases like fake encounters or the 2002 communal riots. At a time when these officers were being taken to task either by their own brethren or agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the IPS association of the state has been clearly inactive.