Bhubaneswar: Two Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers, part of a delegation to Lok Bhavan on a courtesy meeting with governor Hari Babu Kambhampati, were allegedly evicted by the staff and forcibly taken to Capital police station on Thursday. The incident has triggered a backlash with Lok Bhavan ordering a probe.The alleged high-handedness was detailed in a strongly-worded written complaint submitted by D Sudhakara Rao, principal chief commissioner of Income Tax, Odisha, to the governor’s secretary.In his complaint Rao wrote that he, his wife and three other officials were allowed to meet the governor, while IRS officers Manish Kumar (2015 batch) and Satya Prakash Mishra (2023 batch) were asked to wait in a hall. Rao alleged that at the behest of the ADC (police), the two IRS officers were forcibly removed from the premises in a police vehicle and taken to the station. One of them was accused of being in an inebriated condition, which was later proven false.“I am writing to bring to your kind attention a deeply distressing incident involving two officers of my department — Manish Kumar (IRS 2015 batch) and Satya Prakash Mishra (IRS 2023 batch) that occurred today during my scheduled courtesy visit to the Hon’ble Governor. At the behest of the ADC (police), the two officers were forcibly removed from the Lok Bhavan premises in a police vehicle and taken to the Capital police station. It is particularly galling that these officers, who were on official duty and acting under my direct instructions, were treated as unauthorized entrants,” Rao’s letter to the governor’s secretary read.Rao wrote that false aspersions were reportedly cast regarding the IRS officers’ sobriety, which was subsequently proven baseless at the police station.Calling the treatment “an affront to the dignity of their office,” Rao urged the governor’s secretary to examine the conduct of the security staff and the ADC (police) to prevent recurrence.A source at Lok Bhavan said the matter has been taken up with utmost seriousness. “An inquiry has already been initiated,” the source said.The commissionerate police also launched a separate probe. “There was a serious misunderstanding. Someone at Lok Bhavan alleged that one of the IRS officers was drunk. But it was found to be untrue,” a senior police officer said.
