Miffed over not getting top job,Raj Kanojia resigns

Kolkata: Senior IPS officer Raj Kanojia who led a police team in arresting Calcutta High Court judge Justice C S Karnan from Tamil Nadu last year tendered his resignation from service, aparently being upset over not getting the state police chief’s post.

His resignation has been accepted by the Mamata Banerjee government. Sources indicated that Mr Kanojia’s resignation was accepted on July 3.

He will be relived of his service from September 30. Mr Kanojia was not available for comments however. This is the second such instance within a gap of six months after IPS officer Bharati Ghosh, who was the superintendent of police (West Midnapore), opted for the voulantary retirement from service (VRS) following her differences with the state government over her posting.

In his last assignment Mr Kanojia, an IPS officer of 1982-batch, was also the senior most officer in the state police.

He was then posted as the director general of police (home guards) alongwith DG (coastal security). Speculation is rife that he opted for the VRS after failing to become the state director general of police, the post to which his junior Virendra, an IPS officer of 1985 batch, was appointed recently after Surajit Kar Purkayastha’s tenure ended.

Earlier, a tiff took place between Mr Kanojia and the Trinamul Congress government in June last year when he was sent to Darjeeling to tackle the violent movement by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha since he was posted as the sub divisional police officer there in the beginning of his career.

Mr Kanojia wanted a free-hand which he did not get prompting him to leave the task, the sources claimed.