With three more days to go for the final phase of polling in Odisha on June 1, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday suspended senior IPS officer D S Kutey, who was serving as special secretary in the Odisha Chief Minister’s Office, for “unduly interfering in conduct of elections”.
The poll panel also asked that senior IPS officer Ashish Kumar Singh, posted as IG (CM security) and on medical leave since May 4, to be present for a detailed examination by a special medical board constituted by the director of AIIMS Bhubaneswar. The board has been tasked with ascertaining the officer’s illness and the treatment undergone. Singh, who was earlier posted as IG (central range), had been transferred by the EC in April.
The report on the medical examination should reach the Commission by May 31, 2024, the ECI said.
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In a letter to the CEO, Odisha, the ECI said that 1997 batch IPS officer DS Kutey, who is presently working as the special secretary to the chief minister, be placed under suspension on the charge of “interfering” in the conduct of election.
During the suspension period, Kutey’s headquarters is fixed at the office of Resident Commissioner, Odisha, New Delhi, where he has to report by 3 pm on Wednesday (May 29), the letter said.
This apart, the ECI also directed the expeditious investigation under due process of law in the case against BJP’s MLA candidate Prashant Jagdev for damaging EVM in a polling booth.
Jagdev was arrested on May 26 on the charge of damaging the EVM during the third phase of polling in the state on May 25.
(With inputs from PTI)