LUCKNOW: Dissatisfied with the party's performance in the Lok Sabha elections, chief minister Mayawati seems to be in a make-over mode. Reacting sharply on a news report highlighting police high-handedness in Bahraich, the CM sent DGP Vikram Singh to the spot on Saturday for a first hand account of the incident.

On the basis of the findings of the DGP, the police station in-charge and two of his subordinates were put under suspension with immediate effect while the DSP concerned was attached to the DGP headquarters at Lucknow till further notice.

Though known for keeping the administrative and police officials on a leash and initiating stringent action against those found lax towards their duty, chief minister Mayawati is not known for reacting to media reports in the manner in which she did on Saturday. If the change in CM's approach is any indication, the administrative authorities across the state may find themselves at the receiving end of many more such surprise inspections and penal actions in near future.

The news report that caught the attention of the CM was related to a dispute between two Dalit neighbours in Durgapurwa village under Nanpara police station of Bahraich. The report stated that despite the incident being of such trivial nature, the police were harassing one of the families and were raiding their house, misbehaving with the women in the family and damaging domestic items.

Taking a serious note of the incident, the CM ordered the DGP to conduct an on-the-spot-inspection and brief her about the ground realities. The DGP flew down to Bahraich and met the two families involved in the dispute. He spoke to the local residents and the members of the two families separately and individually in private. He also went through the records of the police station and questioned the police teams involved in the raids. He also visited the house where the police had allegedly damaged property of one of the parties.

The aggrieved reportedly produced the broken cot and utensils that were damaged by the police team during the raid which was conducted through late in the night but the police team was not accompanied by lady cops. Taking all the lapses into account, the DGP ordered suspension of the station officer (SO) Nanpara Bhagwant Prasad Arya, SI Radhe Shyam Dwivedi and constable Dharmendra Chakraborty. He also ordered termination of services of the two home guards who accompanied the police raid party.

Circle officer of the area DSP Hari Govind Misra was attached to the DGP headquarters with immediate effect while an adverse entry was made in the personal file of ASP Bahraich VP Srivastava. Investigations into the dispute between the two neighbours and the police atrocities thereon were transferred to the anti-corruption organisation (ACO) on the orders of the DGP.