Bhubaneswar: Senior IPS officer D S Kutey, who was suspended by Election Commission of India (ECI) and later reinstated, was on Monday posted as Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Home Department.
On May 28, Kutey, who was serving as special secretary in the Odisha Chief Minister’s Office, was suspended for “unduly interfering in conduct of elections”. The action was reportedly taken in connection with the alleged vandalism of EVMs by BJP’s candidate for the Khurda Assembly seat, Prasant Jagadev, during the sixth phase of the election on May 25.
Kutey’s headquarters was fixed at the Office of the Resident Commissioner, Odisha, New Delhi.
On June 6, the ECI decided to revoke his suspension and communicated the same to the state government. “The government after careful consideration is pleased to revoke the suspension D S Kutey with immediate effect pending initiation of disciplinary proceedings. Therefore on revocation of suspension, he is posted as OSD, Home Department,” the official notification said.
Earlier in the day, the state government also transferred and posted Odisha’s Resident Commissioner at New Delhi Ravi Kant as OSD, Home Department.
Ravi Kant and Kuttey were considered part of the powerful coterie that called the shots in Odisha during the latter part of 24-year Naveen Patnaik rule, which ended in June 2024.
Earlier this month, IPS officer Ashish Kumar Singh, who had come under ECI scanner during the elections, was also removed from the post of Inspector General of Police (Chief Minister’s security) and posted as officer on OSD, Home Department.