IAS officer suspended for checking Narendra Modi’s helicopter 

Narendra Modi waving to a crowd.

New Delhi: The Election Commission has suspended a senior Indian Administrative Service officer, who was deployed as a poll observer in Sambalpur, Odisha, on Wednesday, for checking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s helicopter there. Mohammed Mohsin, a 1996-batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer, has been accused by the poll panel for not following the protocol for checking Special Protection Group (SPG) protectees.

According to EC guidelines SPG protectees are exempted from such checking.

According to media reports, the general observer of Sambalpur constituency carried out a sudden check of Modi’s helicopter, which delayed the prime minister’s schedule by 15 minutes. The poll panel said, “The commission has considered the material available before it and, prima facie, has found dereliction of duty. It found Mohsin’s action was contrary to its instruction concerning SPG protectees.”

A senior police officer, who was at the scene said, “A team of poll officials led by Mohsin inspected some papers in the chopper carrying Modi. The inspection delayed the PM’s arrival at the meeting place by around 20 minutes. This was reported to the Election Commission.”

The poll panel has asked for a report from the district collector and the deputy inspector general of police after the incident.

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