PUJA AWASTHI | Issue Dated: July 14, 2012, New Delhi

Tags : hunter | spoit light |

Jasvir Singh walked into the spotlight as SP Pratapgarh in 1996, for taking on Raghuraj Pratap Singh (Raja Bhaiya) – the self proclaimed King of Kunda (Pratapgarh) whose many, real and rumoured, talents included dumping his rivals in a crocodile infested pond. The run in with Jasvir was probably the only time that the dreaded Bhaiya displayed some trace of fear and retaliated by filing FIRs against Singh. Later, Raja Bhaiya went on to emerge as the political saviour of Kalyan Singh, while Jasvir was awarded with over a dozen departmental inquiries.

Singh’s other big run in with the powers came in 2005 when as SP (Food Cell), he turned in a report on the food grain scam in the state and recommended prosecution of 109 people, including six senior officials. Instead, the SP-led government of the day called for an explanation from him and diluted the report.



Many stories surround Singh, a 1992 batch IPS officer of the UP cadre from Hoshiarpur, who is currently posted as DIG, Police Training School, Gorakhpur. The common thread in each is his no nonsense temper. Arun Kumar, currently DIG Technical Services, Lucknow says, “Singh's greatest quality is his ability to call a spade a spade. His acts bear the message that if I am to implement the rule of law, no one can have special privilege.”

It is a tricky reputation to have. For while it has ensured that wherever Singh is posted, notorious elements fear to even call him on the telephone, it is also believed to have made his seniors reluctant to head departments of which he is a part. The aam junta of course loves him. Amitabh Thakur, SP (Rules and Manuals), Lucknow recalls an incident where he overheard a group of persons (presumably from Pratapgarh) speak of Singh in glowing terms. “They said Pratapgarh had never had a SP like Singh. It was a testimony to his work”, says Thakur.

There are other acts, among them being the first police officer to declare his assets (an idea which germinated from him), which have given Singh a growing band of fans. Mahendra Pratap Singh, secretary of Project Vijay, a youth centric initiative which uses the RTI to out corruption, says, “Singh has been fearless and impartial, and his example inspires the young.” The strongest measure for Singh’s impartiality is the fact that he has been at the receiving end of all regimes in the state and has been posted at whim, with one posting (in 2008) as SP Railway Police, lasting just 24 hours.

In Mayawati’s rule his name was tossed about for association with Hasan Ali, the Pune stud farm owner under the scanner for money laundering. His admirers of course dismiss such allegations. “All this is wrong interpretation. He is a hunted officer,” says Mahendra Pratap as he signs off.