Q&A with Amitabh Thakur: ‘I have been suspended because I took on the most powerful man’
After allegedly being threatened by SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav for exposing the mining mafia, suspended IPS officer Amitabh Thakur tells Namrata Biji Ahuja about the ordeal he and his wife Nutan, a social activist, have been through
What is your spat with the Samajwadi Party supremo, Mulayam Singh Yadav, about?
I do not have any “spat” with Mulayam Singh Yadav because there is no reason for me to have a “spat” with him per se. But, whatever trouble we have as on date started on December 26, 2014, when my wife, Nutan Thakur, for the first time presented a complaint against Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, the state’s mining minister, to the state Lokayukta. The crux of the complaint was that rampant illegal mining was taking place in the state because of which environment was getting degraded. The complaint said that Mr Prajapati was able to do all this because he enjoyed the direct and open patronage of some very senior leaders of his political party.
When did the threatening calls start coming? Did you register any complaint with the police? The media started hearing about the threat from you only now.
At that time neither me nor my wife knew what exactly was in store for us. On January 2, 2015, my wife presented certain additional information against
Mr Prajapati, which included details about his property and that of some others involved in illegal mining, before the Lokayukta. On January 3, we got the first “threat call” in our so-called “activist” life. We do not call ourselves activists; that is for people to decide. But we got a call from someone who called himself a journalist from a TV channel. He sounded friendly but the crux of his words were that we should steer clear of this matter, particularly Mr Prajapati’s properties.
He also said that Mr Prajapati is the “Gandhi of Amethi”, an immensely popular leader, and that he could arrange a meeting between us. He also said that if we continue, there is a possibility that I, being a government servant, might face trouble. That is what he told my wife Nutan.
How long has your wife been an activist?
She has been an activist for about 10 years. She started with small things and graduated to what she is doing today.
You’ve termed the rape charges against you as “baseless”. On what basis have you said that?
On January 17, at around 7.30 pm, my wife got a phone call from a journalist who said he wanted a reaction from her on the rape charges against her husband. She was dumbfounded and enquired about it. He said that a complaint had been filed before the State Women Commission. We procured a copy of that complaint and saw that it was an un-dated complaint and even the alleged time of rape and date was not given. The complainant merely wrote that “I met Nutan Thakur in Ghaziabad through a political person and she called me to Lucknow for a job and when I came there with my husband, Nutan took me to her husband’s room where he raped me and later, when I came out of the room, my husband was very angry, but Amitabh and Nutan Thakur said they were very powerful people and if we raised our voice, we will face consequences.”
Immediately we took the copy of the complaint and met the state DGP A.K. Gupta on January 18. We had an inkling that Mr Prajapati may be behind it.
My wife asked the police chief to get me medically examined and also the woman, but no action was taken.
Two days later, on January 21, we came to know that I had raped another lady. It was a similar complaint — just the name of the lady was different this time.
My wife even met the governor, Ram Naik, and told him that it is a huge conspiracy. The governor wrote to the chief minister, calling it a serious issue and said an inquiry may be done. But no inquiry took place. I personally wrote to the chief minister seeking an inquiry, but nothing happened. Another two-three months passed and then we came to know through local newspapers that a lady has approached the local court seeking an FIR against us for issuing threats. We found out that it was one of the two ladies who had registered a complaint of rape against me. This time the woman claimed that the alleged rape incident had taken place on December 31.
Documents accessed by us through RTI show that the lady had been in touch with local police officers, like the DSP of Gomtinagar, who had approached the lady twice. The documents we got from the State Women Commission were even more startling since there were two similar complaints from two persons having different signatures. While the woman told the States Women Commission that she does not remember the date and time of the incident, she gave a contradictory version in the court.
How did you procure the audio recording of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav threatening you?
On June 10, after having obtained information about the alleged rape cases through RTI, we went to the local police station to file an FIR — that we were being implicated under false rape charges and that Gayatri Prajapati and the State Women Commission were implicating us. But the police refused to register our complaint, saying it was against a minister.
We again met the state DGP on June 15, but he too refused to register an FIR. Then we moved the CJM court and on July 9 a report came from the police station saying that on June 20 itself the police had registered our FIR. As complainants, we got to know of this fact only on July 9.
Then on July 10, I got that phone call from Mr Mulayam Singh, where he said that whatever had happened in Jasrana, things much worse may happen with you. (In 2006, in Jasrana, a town in Firozabad district, Thakur, who was then SP of Firozabad, was saved from being beaten up during a function where Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and his relatives were present.) Since I am posted in an inconsequential post, I never expected this phone call from Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav. I recorded the conversation on my phone through auto recorder.
And the next day I went to the Hazratganj police station to register an FIR. My FIR was not registered but that lady (the one who had, according to reports, approached a court) miraculously appeared before the DGP and immediately an FIR was registered in a rape case against me.
And now I am told this lady is being given VIP treatment by the local police.
Do you think a large section of civil servants in UP are compromised?
Hundred per cent. I say it on record that the majority are compromised. Recently another senior IAS officer, S.P. Singh, principal secretary in department of public enterprises, was facing major trouble because, unfortunately, like me, he raised his voice against an alleged scam that is going on in UP in jobs. He alleged that a scam larger than the Vyapam scam is taking place in UP… He now fears for his life.
You have been suspended by the UP government...
Yes, I have already been suspended because I took on the man who is the most powerful man. Whoever chooses to speak the truth, has to face the consequences.
How big is the mining mafia problem in states.
I can speak only for UP since I have served only in this state though I now realise that the mining mafia is spread across states. Few days back, the Rajasthan media told me that illegal mining is rampant in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra... Of course, the death of the young IAS officer D.K. Ravi, who took on the sand mining mafia in Karnataka, is there for all to see.
Have any political parties approached you? Have you spoken to any local leaders?
Thankfully and luckily no one has approached me. Some of my friends suggested I meet this one or that one. But I have not approached anyone. I don’t want this issue to become political.
