On Monday, a video went viral on social media purportedly showing a cadre of Uttar Pradesh (UP) IPS officer Ajay Pal Sharma, posted as a poll observer in West Bengal, allegedly threatening Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Jahangir Khan and his family.
Khan responded to the threat by referring to Telugu action film “Pushpa” and Bollywood film “Singham”, and said he would not allow police officers “appointed by the BJP” to threaten voters.
BJP’s Amit Malviya shared the video on X, praising Sharma for wasting no time in setting the tone and reading the riot act. TMC MP Mahua Moitra asked Sharma to be a bit cautious, even as a petition against him was filed in the Supreme Court, accusing the IPS officer of being “highly partisan and acting inconsistent with the role assigned to him”.
On Tuesday, a lawyer verbally requested a restraining order for Sharma, saying he had violated the Model Code of Conduct by threatening Khan and his family. The Calcutta High Court has refused to take action against any officer on poll duty till the Bengal elections end on Wednesday. She asked a lawyer to contact the Election Commission of India if there was any complaint when it was alleged that Sharma was intimidating voters.
A 2011 batch officer, Sharma first came into the limelight in the summer of 2019 as Rampur Superintendent of Police when he oversaw the proceedings against Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan. Khan was labeled a ‘land mafia’ weeks after winning the Rampur Lok Sabha seat. Nearly 80 cases of land grabbing, theft and encroachment linked to Johor University in Khan have been filed. Bulldozers entered, and raids became routine.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav called it outright political targeting and targeted Sharma. To opponents, he represented the police as political vendettas and fearless law enforcement for supporters. Sharma’s stints in Noida and other National Capital Region districts of UP have earned him the image of an ‘encounter specialist’. Dozens of alleged extrajudicial killings and anti-crime campaigns have earned him applause and scrutiny. Civil society groups questioned the legitimacy of the “culture of encounter.”
Unverified videos have surfaced showing him dancing with female dancers in bars, which has cast a shadow over his tenure as Additional Commissioner of Police in Prayagraj, after he allegedly threatened TMC leader Khan. TMC’s Mahua Moitra posted the videos on X, saying it was good “to see you enjoying yourself”. Akhilesh Yadav cited Sharma’s past and questioned why he was sent to a state not ruled by the BJP during the elections.
