IPS officer Amitabh Thakur found "not suitable" to continue, retired prematurely

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New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has ordered immediate voluntary retirement of 1992 batch-IPS officer Amitabh Thakur. The decision was communicated by the Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday (March 23).

The notice was issued to the IPS officer by the Uttar Pradesh Home Department which said that Thakur was "not suitable" to continue his services as a public servant. 

He was serving as the Joint Director (Civil Defence) and was to retire in June 2028.

"I received my retirement orders. The government does not need my service, Jai Hind," Thakur said in a tweet.

Thakur had run-ins both with the current BJP and previous Samajwadi Party governments.

In 2016, Thakur had written twice to the Union Home Ministry, seeking a change in his cadre.

The officer had alleged that UP government officials were treating him as a "sworn enemy" and cited threat to his life. He had expressed his inability to continue working in the prevailing conditions and demanded that he be shifted out of the state. The Centre in January 2017 turned down his request.

Thakur was suspended on July 13, 2015, days after he had accused the then Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav of threatening him. 

He had made public an audio recording, in which the SP leader had allegedly threatened him. Thereafter, the state government initiated a Vigilance inquiry against him. 

Later, the Lucknow bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal stayed the suspension of Thakur and ordered his reinstatement with full salary with effect from October 11, 2015.

Amitabh Thakur is a 1992 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and a social activist. He has served as a Superintendent of Police (SP) in ten districts of Uttar Pradesh, and as an Inspector General (IG) in the state's Civil Defence department.

Two other officers, a 2002-batch DIG and an SP of the 2005 batch, have also been prematurely retired, UP Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi said.

Earlier in the day, the MHA informed the Lok Sabha that as many as 81,007 Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and 15,904 Assam Rifles personnel have taken voluntary retirement and resigned between 2011 to March 1, 2021.