Durga Shakti Nagpal responds to UP Govt’s chargesheet, says she is innocent

Zee Media Bureau New Delhi: Responding to the chargesheet filed against her by the Uttar Pradesh government, suspended IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal on Friday said that she was innocent, media reports suggested. Nagpal in her reply, reports said, claimed that she was following SC orders while demolishing mosque and had consulted villagers in this regard. Earlier, despite facing intense criticism over the issue, the Akhilesh Yadav government had served Nagpal a chargesheet on Sunday. After this she had been given 15 days to file her reply. The chargesheet, running into 10 pages, was prepared based on a report of Commissioner (Meerut Division) and claimed that the IAS officer had not adhered to the rules while demolishing a mosque wall. It has also been said that even though there was no tension in the area, the SDM went to the site. Akhilesh government had said earlier that the officer could explain her position after a chargesheet had been served to her and that any decision on the matter would be taken after she gave her response. The chargesheet came a day after Congress president Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to make sure that the young IAS officer was not unfairly treated. The Samajwadi Party had then hit back at Congress asking as to what they had done about Haryana cadre IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who had allegedly been transferred for questioning Robert Vadra`s land deals. In a retort to SP`s barbs, the Congress said that Sonia was well within her rights to question the suspension of the IAS officer and that the whole matter had gone beyond the boundaries of Uttar Pardesh. The Centre had sought a report from Samajwadi Party on suspension of Durga Nagpal. It has been alleged that she was suspended by the Akhilesh government for her alleged crackdown on sand mafia involved in rampant quarrying along the banks of Yamuna River. Durga Shakti Nagpal belongs to the UP cadre. She was suspended on July 27 apparently for ordering demolition of a wall of a local under-construction mosque without following the due process. The UP government has come under sharp criticism for the suspension of the officer, with all major Opposition parties, including the BJP and BSP accusing Akhilesh Yadav and his ministers of protecting the sand mafia. The matter took a turn for the worst when a Samajwadi Party leader, Narendra Bhati, was caught on camera boasting that he had got Nagpal suspended in 41 minutes.