UP DGP Mukul Goel removed for 'neglecting duty, disobeying orders'
Uttar Pradesh's Yogi Adityanath government on Wednesday removed the state's Director General of Police (DGP) Mukul Goel for "not taking interest in departmental work" and "disobeying orders." Notably, the 1987-batch Indian Police Service Officer held the DGP post for 10 months following his appointment in June 2021. Goel has now been made the Director-General of Civil Defence, an official statement said.
- Reportedly, the decision to remove Goel was taken by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as he was not happy with the former for skipping departmental meetings.]
- A DGP is responsible for the administration of the police throughout a state.
- The state government is yet to name Goel's successor. Meanwhile, Additional DG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar has been given the additional charge.
Reportedly, Goel had not been attending departmental meetings—supposed to be chaired by the DGP per tradition. Recently, he also skipped a law and order review meeting presided by Adityanath. However, it was later revealed that he had gone on leave. Although he had applied for the leave, he had not intimated the bosses in the government, sources told The Times of India.
A UP government spokesperson informed that apart from skipping departmental meetings, Goel did not "visit recent spots of crime." Goel also did not issue any directives to the district police chiefs lately, the spokesperson added.
While Goel was not attending key departmental meetings, sources told CNN-News18 that he was not even invited to be present in any of the key meetings. The real issue was that Goel was not on good terms with CM Yogi Adityanath, the sources said. Goel has not yet spoken to the media about the development.
Goel's career is marred by various controversies. He was among several IPS officers suspended by former UP CM Mayawati in 2007 for alleged irregularities in police recruitment. He was the ADG (Law and Order) when the Muzaffarnagar riots took place in 2013. A PIL had also been filed before the Allahabad High Court in August 2021 against his appointment as DGP.
The three senior-most IPS officers are now in the race for the top job—Biswajit Mohapatra (1962-born), RP Singh, and GL Meena of the 1987 batch. However, Mahapatra has only three months of service left. The norms require officials to have a minimum of six months' service left before retirement to be posted as DGP. The fourth officer on the list is 1988-batch RK Vishwakarma.
Goel is the fourth DGP in UP to be removed from his position before completing his tenure. In 2012, DGP Brij Lal was removed from his position by the election commission before the assembly polls. In 2013, DGP Ambrish Sharma was shunted by then CM Akhilesh Yadav over the deteriorating law and order situation. In 2017, DGP Javeed Ahmad was removed by Adityanath.
Mukul Goel, a 1987-batch IPS officer, graduated from IIT Delhi. He served as the SP of Azamgarh and the SSP of Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Saharanpur, and Meerut. Goel has also been the DIG of Kanpur, Agra, and Bareilly. He also served as IG in ITBP and BSF. In UP, he served as ADG Railway, CB-CID, and ADG (Law and Order).
