Assam : POCSO Act charge sheet over IPS; congress women wing seeks removal from post

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An IPS officer was recently appointed as the superintendent of police (SP) of a district in Assam who was “charge-sheeted for sexually assaulting” a minor girl. The women’s wing of the Congress demands his removal from the post.

All India Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev alleged that they have no confidence in the officer.

Dev in a letter to the Chief Minister of Assam said, “It has been reported that an IPS officer who was recently charge sheeted by the Assam Police under POCSO Act for allegedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl has been appointed as the Superintendent of Police of a district”.

The “case, registered in January 2020, is still being probed by the Assam Criminal Investigation Department under sections 354, 354A (assault or criminal force to outrage modesty, sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act,” it read.

The Mahila Congress chief seeks suspension of the appointment order of the police officer.

Director General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta told PTI: “It is a government order. I cannot comment on a government order.”

The charge sheet was filed against the 2012 batch IPS officer before one-and-a-half months, informed a senior official.

During the IPS officer’s posting as superintendent of police in a hill district in Assam, an FIR was registered against him on January 3 under the POCSO Act for alleged sexual harassment of the minor daughter of a woman officer of the Assam Police Services.