UP: Top officials shunted out over CMO 'abduction'

Taking a serious view of the alleged abduction of Gonda district's chief medical officer by a minister, the Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday shifted top district officials including the district magistrate, the superintendent of police and the CMO and handed over the probe to the divisional commissioner.

"The government has transferred District Magistrate Abhay, Superintendent of Police Kripa Shanker Singh, Chief Development Officer Arvind Kumar Singh and CMO S P Singh with immediate effect," an official spokesman said.

The government has handed over the entire probe to the Divisional Commissioner of Lucknow Sanjeev Mittal, he said.

The divisional commissioner had been asked to submit his report to the government within a week, the spokesman said. He would also look into whether there was any lapse on the part of the officials in execution of their responsibilities.

Roshan Jacob would be the new Gonda DM, Navneet Rana the SP and Munni Lal Pandey the CDO, the spokesman said, adding that the charge of the CMO had been given to the senior-most deputy CMO.

Under fire, minister of State for Revenue Vinod Kumar Singh resigned on Friday, following the allegation of abducting Gonda Chief Medical Officer S P Singh, who made a dramatic appearance at his office soon after.

The minister said he was innocent and the accusations were part of a conspiracy to malign his image.