Katihar SP in trouble for celebratory firing

The Bihar government on Wednesday took strong exception to an IPS officer Siddharth Mohan Jain firing into the air from his service pistol during a farewell party.

Jain, posted as Katihar SP, was one of the 70 IAS and IPS officers transferred last week. He was supposed to join the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on deputation.

The local police officials on Tuesday night threw a farewell party for him as well as for outgoing District Magistrate (DM) of Katihar Mithilesh Mishra. Both the DM and the SP sang the hit number of 1975 blockbuster Sholay “Yeh dosti hum nahi todenge...”.

While crooning the hit number, the SP took out his official pistol and fired nine rounds into the air. Though no one was injured in the incident, the police headquarters here took strong exception to the first-of-its-kind incident.

“Such misdemeanour by a senior IPS officer was never expected. We have stayed the order of his deputation to the CBI,” said ADG (Headquarters), S K Singhal, here on Wednesday.

Later, Jain clarified that he got a bit emotional during his farewell and was just humming the Sholay number as he wanted to continue his friendship with the outgoing DM (with whom he enjoyed a great rapport) even after retirement. He, however, did not say anything about the firing incident.

Meanwhile, another IPS officer and Senior SP (SSP) of Munger, Ashish Bharti, who was also transferred last week, took to streets along with his junior colleagues, with the DJ playing popular numbers. In a video which went viral on Wednesday, Bharti is seen dancing to a popular Haryanvi song during his farewell party.

“We have taken note of the Munger incident as well as a similar episode at Hajipur. We strongly disapprove of such behaviour by senior officials. We have sent an advisory to all officers asking them to avoid such farewell parties,” said the ADG.

Notably, outgoing Hajipur SP Rakesh Kumar (he too was transferred last week), during his farewell on Tuesday, recreated his wedding and exchanged garland with his wife Priyanka amid loud cheers from junior cops.