Congress slams suspension of IAS officer who checked PM Modi's helicopter

Odisha : The Congress on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi after a 1996-batch IAS officer was suspended for allegedly checking the helicopter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"An official was suspended by ECI for doing his job of inspecting vehicles. The rule cited governs the use of official vehicles for campaigning. It does not exempt PM’s vehicle from being searched. What is Modi carrying in the helicopter that he doesn’t want India to see?", the Congress tweeted on Thursday, the day 95 seats are voting in 12 states and one UT in phase two of Lok Sabha elections.

Mohammed Mohsin was suspended from his duties by the Election Commission after he checked the vehicle in Sambalpur, where the PM addressed an election rally.

The ECI order said that Mohsin had not acted in conformity with the ECI’s instructions dated April 10, 2014 and March 22, 2019 concerning those guarded by the Special Protection Group (SPG).

The Sambalpur district collector has given a written confirmation that Mohsin's action was not in accordance to the instructions of the EC and qualified as “dereliction of duty”.

The ECI did not go into the details of the action or what the guidelines for SPG protectees are.