Shimla. Samosas and cakes brought for Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu were mistakenly served to his security personnel instead, sparking a controversy and necessitating a CID investigation, which was described as an “anti-government” act.
A high-ranking CID official, in his note on the October 21 incident, said that, when the Chief Minister was on a visit to the CID headquarters, those responsible acted as per their agenda. The controversy started when three boxes of samosas and cakes were brought from Hotel Radisson Blu in Lakkar Bazaar to be served to the Chief Minister, who was attending a function at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters on October 21. However, according to the investigation report conducted by a Deputy Superintendent of Police level officer, the food items were served to the Chief Minister’s security staff due to lack of coordination.
The report said that an Inspector General rank officer had asked a Sub Inspector (SI) of police to bring some food items from the hotel for the Chief Minister’s visit. The SI in turn instructed an Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) and a Head Constable to bring food items. The ASI and the head constable brought refreshments in three sealed boxes from the hotel and informed the SI.
Police officials said in their statement that when they asked the tourism department staff on duty whether the snacks kept in the three compartments were to be served to the Chief Minister, they said that these were not included in the menu. The investigation report states that only the said SI, who had assigned the task of bringing breakfast from the hotel to the ASI and the head constable, was aware that the three boxes were meant for Sukhu.
The lady inspector, to whom the food items were assigned, sent the refreshments to the Mechanical Transport (MT) section, which handles refreshments related work, without consulting any senior officer. In this process, three boxes of refreshments exchanged hands with many people.
Interestingly, a high ranking officer of the CID department has written in his comment that all the persons mentioned in the investigation report have worked in an anti-CID and anti-government manner, due to which these items could not be given to the VIPs. The comment said that he acted according to his agenda.