Ahmedabad Deputy Commissioner of Traffic (West) RS Bhagora was dismissed from service by the Union Home Ministry a day before his retirement, The Times of India reported on Thursday. Joint Commissioner of Police (traffic), Ahmedabad city, JR Mothalia, confirmed the development, but refused to give further details.
IPS officer Bhagora was convicted in the 2002 Bilkis Bano gangrape case. Eleven men had raped Bano during the 2002 Gujarat riots. Bano was 19 years old and pregnant at that time. Fourteen members of her family, including her three-year-old, were murdered by the rioters near Ahmedabad. The Bombay High Court had convicted Bhagora and four other police personnel for not performing their duties and for tampering with evidence during the investigation. In March, the Supreme Court had ordered the Gujarat government to complete disciplinary action against the police officers convicted in the case.
Bhagora was due to retire on May 31, but was dismissed from service on May 30. He would not get superannuation benefits given to the retired government employees, said an unidentified official. Bhagora had joined the service in 1996 and was promoted on May 1, 2012.
Gujarat’s minister of state for home, Pradipsinh Jadeja, said he was not aware of Bhagora’s dismissal. “I have not received any communication from the Union home secretary,” he told The Times of India.
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