Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has asked the DGP to initiate disciplinary proceedings against senior IPS officer Dayal Gangwar, who has been suspended for allegedly harassing and exploiting constables, an official said Wednesday.
The home department issued an order June 29 for disciplinary proceedings against Gangwar on the charges of misconduct as a member of the Indian Police Service, he said.
The 1998-batch IPS officer in the rank of additional DG was placed under suspension last month after he was found engaging eight constables in his domestic work.
Home Department Additional Secretary Trilochan Majhi wrote a letter to the Director General of Police (DGP) YB Khurania for taking disciplinary action against Dayal Gangwar, the official said.
Noting that the disciplinary proceedings are required to be initiated within thirty days from the date of suspension of the member of the service, the home department requested the DGP to furnish the draft memorandum of charges, articles of charges, statement of imputations of misconduct and memo of evidence immediately for approval of the government.
Gangwar’s name came to the fore after the lynching of a GRP constable, Soumya Ranjan Swain, May 7 in an area under the Balianta Police Station limits in Bhubaneswar.
Gangwar had faced an administrative inquiry after Swain’s family accused him of harassment and exploitation.
The deceased’s family claimed that Swain was compelled to serve as Gangwar’s domestic help during his tenure as ADG (railway) in 2023-24.
The state government had suspended Gangwar June 18 as per the direction of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.
Apart from the Odisha Police, the National Human Rights Commission also probed into the lynching of the GRP constable.
Before his suspension, Gangwar was shunted from the post of ADG (communication) and assigned as officer on special duty (OSD) in the home department May 25 – a posting widely seen as punitive and insignificant.
