Senior UP cop plays ‘Doosri Radha’

LUCKNOW: In a strange reversal of roles, a man entrusted with the task of maintaining law and order in the state, has instead donned the role of Radha- beloved of Lord Krishna, much to the angst of his wife, who has moved court against him.

Inspector General (Rules and Mannuals) Devendra Kumar Panda, has since 1991 donned the role of Radha, the beloved of Krishna and plunged into a pool of Krishna Bhakti.

Dressed in female attires and sporting a Mangtika (jewellery adorning the head of females), a nose ring, besides wearing the vermillion (Sindoor), Panda spends most of his time dancing and singing bhajans supposed to have been sung by Radha for her beloved.

The love for Krishna is best accentuated by the plaque on Panda's residence in 5/2 IPS Colony Vibhuti Khand in Gomti Nagar, that reads instead of D K Panda (IPS) – ‘Doosri Radha.'

According to recent media reports, Panda says that in 1991, he himself caught the divine glimpse of Lord Krishna who told that the cop was in reality his beloved Radha. Since then Panda has been rewriting rules by playing the romantic character of Radha, much to the dismay of his own Radha, (his wife Veena Panda).

Veena, who was married to the cop in 1973, now terms him as a dramatist and has instead secured from the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court, a monthly maintainance of Rs 7,000 from her better half. A division bench of the Court comprising Justices U K Dhawan and S S Chauhan ordered Panda to grant an interim monthly maintainance of Rs 7,000 to her through cheque.

Repeated attempts to interact with Panda, however, could not deliver any result.