Last Updated:
Tamil Nadu’s ADGP Kalpana Nayak has alleged that there was foul play involved in the fire which gutted her office
Tamil Nadu’s ADGP Kalpana Nayak said that the fire broke out in her office after she brought to the fore the discrepancies by the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board (TNUSRB).
Tamil Nadu’s Additional Director General of Police alleged that someone tried to kill her after she brought out the truth abvout serious irregularities in police recruitment.
Senior IPS officer Kalpana Nayak wrote a complaint to Tamil Nadu Director General of Police and Head of Police Force Shankar Jiwal and appealed for an “unbiased” investigation into a fire which gutted her speech in Chennai on July 29, 2024.
She said that the fire incident took place days after she brought to light the discrepancies by the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board (TNUSRB) in the implementation of communal reservation for recruiting Sub-Inspectors, constables, prison warders, and firemen.
In her complaint, ADGP, TNUSRB Nayak said that exposing irregularities led to the aversion of a Madras High Court’s adverse order and led to the State government’s resultant embarrassment.
However, Nayak said that the truth placed her life in danger and also led to damage to government property, reported The Hindu.
In the detailed note, Nayak emphasised, “on the major fallacies in the applicability of communal reservation” in the appointment of sub-Inspectors and other ranks in March last year.
A sub-committee was formed by the then DGP of TNUSRB to investigate the discrepancies and make required changes in the final list of selected candidates, reported The Hindu.
The Madras High Court disposed of a writ petition which raised the flaws in the recruitment and directed the concerned authorities to rectify the selection list.
What Happened On The Day Nayak’s Office Caught Fire?
On July 29, 2024, Nayak was about to reach the TNUSRB headquarters at Egmore in Chennai when a senior police officer called her and informed her not to come to the office because a fire had broken out in her chamber. The IPS officer had reached the premises by then.
“I visited my chamber, only to be exposed with utmost shock and dismay on seeing my charred chair…it was apparent that if I had reached office a little earlier, I would have lost my life. The sequence of events that followed after my pointing out the major fallacies not only in the current selection/recruitment, but also during the previous years, has culminated in endangering my life,” said Nayak in her complaint.
On the day the fire broke out, Nayak had to check and send the revised list of candidates. It was reported that the fire started because of a short circuit in the air-conditioning system.
After the authorities did not take any action against the staff members 15 days after the incident, Nayak filed a complaint with Jiwal on August 15, 2024 and appealed for a thorough investigation into the incident, further alleging foul play and sabotage.
The ADGP said that the revised list of selected candidates was released a day after the fire without her approval on the TNUSRB website.
“After all, if a senior police officer’s safety cannot be assured in her own office while being surrounded by other police personnel, it casts a dark shadow on the state of policing itself,” ADGP said.
“I hope a thorough and unbiased investigation is conducted by engaging a team of professionals in the interest of justice, and appropriate action is taken against those responsible for the fire,” she added.
