Title - CM seeks names of IAS officers who went meet Bhushan

Helping a colleague could prove costly for some bureaucrats of UP as Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has sought details of IAS officers who went to meet the rape accused Shashi Bhushan 'Shusheel' at Charbagh railway station.A highly-placed official in the Chief Minister's secretariat told 'The Pioneer' on Wednesday that Yadav had asked Inspector General (Railways) Ashutosh Pandey to furnish details of IAS officers who went to meet the tainted IAS officer and even tried to pressurise the inspector to release him. "The report is expected by the end of this week," the official added.The episode seems to be taking political overtones as Shashi Bhushan is considered to be very close to Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati. He was posted as district magistrate of three districts, including Ghaziabad, during Mayawati's regime.There are reports that about a dozen IAS officers went to meet Shashi Bhushan at the Government Railway Police station at Charbagh after the IAS officer's misdeed came to light. Reports say the railway police was overawed by the presence of such a large number of senior IAS officers, two of them from the Chief Minister's secretariat during Mayawati's regime. Acting under the pressure of some IAS officers, GRP Inspector Anil Rai had watered down the crime but later on the intervention of senior officials, charges of attempt to rape were levelled against Bhushan.

The government had on Tuesday suspended Anil Rai for dancing to the tune of IAS officers. The Chief Minister, however, said that women were safe in Uttar Pradesh. "Whosoever misbehaves with women will be punished," Yadav said without referring to the molestation case involving the IAS officer.

Meanwhile, Dr Nutan Thakur, convenor of the Institute for Research and Documentation in Social Sciences (IRDS), has written a letter to the Chief Minister saying that the suspension of Anil Rai does not seem proper.

She said when the DIG and SP of GRP had also immediately come to the Charbagh police station and the FIR was registered after due consultation with these senior officers, suspending only the Inspector appeared to be inappropriate.

Thakur has urged the Chief Minister to get it inquired which IAS officers went to Charbagh police station in their official vehicle to exert undue influence over the police officers.

"If the GRP Inspector is responsible of succumbing to outside influence, the IAS officers who tried to influence police by going to GRP police station in their official vehicle during office hour are equally responsible and should be punished accordingly," Thakur said.