IRS officers taken to police station from Odisha Raj Bhavan: Panel set up to probe what transpired

Weather ePaper Today’s Paper Journalism of Courage Home ePaper Politics Explained Opinion India Business Premium Cities UPSC Entertainment Sports World Lifestyle Tech Subscribe Sign In TrendingMumbai NewsDelhi NewsChandigarh NewsBangalore NewsLucknow News Advertisement function checkAndLoadWindowSizeScript() { if (window.jQuery) { // jQuery is loaded, include your script jQuery(document).ready(function($) { // Your existing script for checking window width if (window.innerWidth) var page_w = window.innerWidth; else if (document.all) var page_w = document.body.clientWidth; if (page_w > 1024) { $(".add-left, .add-right").show(); } else { $(".add-left, .add-right").hide(); } }); } else { // jQuery is not loaded, check again after 0.2 seconds setTimeout(checkAndLoadWindowSizeScript, 200); } } // Initial call to the function checkAndLoadWindowSizeScript(); NewsIndiaIRS officers taken to police station from Odisha Raj Bhavan: Panel set up to probe what transpired IRS officers taken to police station from Odisha Raj Bhavan: Panel set up to probe what transpired Comes after allegations of "high-handed treatment" of the two officers by the police and security personnel Written by: Sujit Bisoyi3 min readBhubaneswarUpdated: Apr 18, 2026 06:55 AM IST Sources said the Raj Bhavan security staff called the police, and the two officers were taken to the Capital police station in a ‘police vehicle.’ (Express Photo) Make us preferred source on Google Whatsapp twitter Facebook Reddit PRINT The Odisha Raj Bhavan on Friday constituted a four-member committee of senior officers to verify allegations of “high-handed treatment” of two IRS officers by the aide-de-camp (police) and security personnel. Officials said the panel has been tasked with examining the allegations and submitting its report by Monday. “The findings of the committee will be placed before the Governor for further action,” an official said. It will also probe the sequence of events leading to the incident. The two IRS officers — a joint commissioner of the 2015 batch and an assistant commissioner of the 2023 batch — were allegedly turned away from the Raj Bhavan campus and taken to the Capital police station in a police vehicle on Thursday. The incident occurred when they were on official duty to coordinate the visit of the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (PCCIT), Odisha, who paid a courtesy visit to the Governor with a delegation. The committee was formed after PCCIT D Sudhakara Rao, in a strongly worded letter to the secretary to the Governor, termed the incident “deeply distressing”. Stating that such high-handedness towards senior civil servants is an affront to the dignity of their office, the PCCIT urged the Raj Bhavan to examine the conduct of the security staff and the ADC (Police), an IPS officer of the 2021 batch. As per a petition filed by one of the IRS officers, when they were waiting in a hall near the aide-de-camp’s chamber, 4-5 policemen came and asked them to go with them, saying that they had gained unauthorised entry into Raj Bhavan. This, despite the IRS officers allegedly sharing their identity and telling them that they were waiting there with the knowledge of the ADC (Navy) and OSD to the Governor. “We cooperated with them, and offered to leave in our office vehicles. However, they told us to come with them in their police vehicle, and we cooperated,” read the petition by the official. From Raj Bhavan, the officers were allegedly taken directly to the Capital Police Station. Though the officers were allowed to leave, they said they were again called to the police station in the afternoon, as a security personnel member at Raj Bhavan had complained that one of the two officers seemed to be in a drunken state and both had to be removed. “We humbly offered ourselves for a breath analyser test, which was humbly declined by the police officers at the PS, stating quietly clearly that there were absolutely no such complaints about either of us, being in a state of inebriation, and that it was not required,” reads the petition. One of the IRS officers, who is from Odisha, said the situation was embarrassing for him as his father had served in the Raj Bhavan for over 34 years and retired last November at the rank of Deputy Secretary to Governor. The officer said he along with his father had met the governor on multiple occasions earlier. Sujit Bisoyi is a Special Correspondent with the Indian Express and covers Odisha. His interests are in politics, policy and people’s stories. He tweets at @bisoyisujit87 ... Read More Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram