New Delhi: A condolence meeting was held on Sunday at the CBI headquarters here in memory of DIG Suresh Kumar Palsania, who had led the probe in 2G spectrum allocation case.
Palsania, a 1996-batch IPS officer of Odisha cadre, had passed away earlier this month at the age of 44 after an acute illness.
Remembering him as a gritty officer, Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy said, "When he was battling with disease, me and Director CBI went to hospital where he said he would be fit and be back soon."
"I vividly remember my last meeting with him at Vigyan Bhavan, just a month back. He looked hale and hearty and as always, smiling, while he received the President`s Police Medal. I could not have imagined in my dream that we would lose him so soon," he said.
CBI chief A P Singh said Palsania had assured him that he would ensure the agency met all challenges.
"Throughout last year, under very trying circumstances, I found Suresh completely unflappable and totally in control of the situation. Whether it was briefing the PAC, JPC or CVC on the intricacies of the investigation, we relied on Suresh...," he said.
Terming his death as a huge loss to the Indian Police Service, DGP Prakash Mishra said Palsania was an outstanding officer whose perfect upbringing reflected in his humane qualities.
Special Director V K Gupta choked with emotion while describing his association with him. "When I joined CBI in 2010 and sat down with him to review the 2G case....He took with seriousness the responsibility and led the team in the probe," he said.
His batch-mate and fellow DIG, Sanjay Kumar Singh termed him as fearless, strong-willed and brave officer who never cared for personal comforts while on duty but always showed caring attitude towards his subordinates and colleagues.
SP Vivek Priyadarshi, who was the investigating officer in the 2G case, said when Palsania joined Anti-Corruption Branch, there were reports that CBI had changed its officer under pressure. But, his professionalism proved otherwise.
PTI
