Months after joining the BJP, controversial Indian Police Service (IPS) ex-officer Basant Rath has now sought security from Jammu and Kashmir Police to campaign for opposition candidates in the Union Territory.
A letter from Basant Rath, who was prematurely retired by the Union Home Ministry in August 2023, has gone viral on social media in which he sought security to campaign for Congress, the National Conference, and the Peoples Democratic Party candidates in the parliamentary elections.
Ex-Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Jammu and Kashmir Police, known for stoking controversies, said that he will campaign for parliamentary seats in support of the joint candidates of Congress, PDP, and National Conference.
Basant Rath has written a letter to Jammu and Kashmir Police Director General Rashmi Ranjan Swain, asking him to provide security. In a letter sent to the J&K Police chief, Basant Rath said that he will go to the hilly and terror-hit areas of Jammu and Kashmir to campaign for Congress, PDP, and NC candidates. For this, he should be provided security because he has been in the police, so he is the target of terrorists.
He further warned that J&K Police would be responsible for any mishaps that occurred to him during the election campaign.
Who is Basant Rath?
Basant Rath is a resident of Pipli, Uttarkashi village of Puri district of Orrisa. He has completed his studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. After passing the Civil Services Examination in the year 2000, he chose the Indian Police Service. He was given the cadre of Jammu and Kashmir.
Home Minister ordered his premature retirement in August 2023.
On August 8, 2023, the Union Home Ministry ordered his premature retirement. Rath was an IPS officer of the 2000 batch of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir cadre, now AGMUT. He was in the rank of Inspector General of Police (IGP) when he was prematurely retired in the "interest of the public".
In a letter addressed to the then Chief Secretary of J&K, the Ministry of Home Affairs said the Competent Authority has approved the premature retirement of Rath in the public interest under Rule 16(3) of All India Services (Death-cum-Retirement-Benefits) Rules, 1958 with immediate effect by giving three months pay and allowances in lieu of notice.
The MHA order read: "The Central Government after careful consideration of the proposal of UT division and performance of Rath has come to the conclusion that the officer is not fit to be retained in service in the public interest. The Government has, therefore, decided to retire Rath prematurely from services in the public interest".
Rath joined BJP in August 2023
After the Union Home Ministry prematurely retired him in the "public interest", he joined the BJP through online mode.
Basant Rath also shared his membership in the BJP on his social media account.
Earlier Basant Rath had announced joining the ruling BJP to serve the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
"I'll join BJP before the next Parliamentary elections. I'll stay and work in J and K and Ladakh. No question of going back to Odisha", Basant Rath had posted on his social media account.
"If I ever join a political party, it will be BJP. If I ever contest an election, it will be from Kashmir. If I ever join politics, it will be before March 6, 2024.", he wrote in 2023.
Basant Rath was suspended on July 8, 2020
Basant Rath was suspended by the Union Home Ministry for "gross misconduct and misbehaviour", on July 8, 2020, in which he gave some controversial statements.
Rath was attached to Police Headquarters in Jammu and was asked not to leave the headquarters without permission from the Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police.
Home Ministry in an order stated that the disciplinary proceedings against Rath were "contemplated in connection with repeated instances of gross misconduct and misbehaviour, which have been brought to the notice of the Government".
