Jagatsinghpur: Salary of the Inspector-in-Charge (IIC) of Tirtol police station in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha has been stopped for allegedly releasing seized vehicles loaded with illegally extracted sand.
Sources said that the district Collector of Jagatsinghpur district took a serious note of the alleged misuse of power by Tirtol IIC Pradipta Sethy and stopped his salary. He also issued a show-cause notice to the police officer.
It may be noted that the district administration had conducted raids at Jeypore and Kilipal sand ghats during November and December last year, and seized more than 80 sand-laden Hyva vehicles for illegal sand mining. Complaints were later lodged at Tirtol police station by the District Mining Officer against the seized vehicles and the leaseholders of the sand ghats.
Subsequently, owners of the seized vehicles had approached the Orissa High Court. After hearing the matter, the HC directed the petitioners to submit all relevant documents within 15 days before the Tirtol IIC, Sub-Collector and District Mining Officer, seeking release of their vehicles.
However, the Tirtol IIC allegedly ignored the HC direction and released the seized vehicles on his own. The act was viewed as a violation of procedure and court orders, prompting the district administration to take disciplinary action and stop the IIC’s salary. The Collector also sought an explanation from the police officer for the lapse.
