image: Vartika Katiyar (L) and Roopa D Moudgil (R)
Bengaluru: Once again, Karnataka is witnessing a spat between IPS officers. A fresh row has brewed as Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Administration, Vartika Katiyar alleged that her senior, Inspector General (IG) D. Roopa Moudgil, orchestrated in ‘planting’ files in her office through subordinates. Both officers are currently part of Internal Security Division (ISD).
Katiyar, a 2010-batch IPS officer, lodged a complaint before Karnataka Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh and marked to Director General of Police Alok Mohan on February 20.
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As per the complaint, the DIG alleged that on September 6, 2024, two junior police officers – head constable Manjunath TS and home guard Mallikarjun – acting as per Moudgil’s directions, entered her chamber without her knowledge.
The junior officers entered Katiyar’s chamber by using keys obtained from the Control Room during her absence, she alleged. Following, the duo placed the files, took photos of them and sent the images to Moudgil through WhatsApp.
Katiyar further claimed that her personal assistant, Kiran Kumar, had earlier warned Mallikarjuna not to enter the office without informing him. The DIG said she only recently became aware of this matter and confronted both Manjunath and Mallikarjuna. They have admitted about entering the chamber and accessing the files as per the directions of Roopa.
Katiyar states that similar such incidents of transgressions may have occurred many times before but only the recent incident had come to her attention. “In the future, incidents like this may repeat and if anything wrong happens, D Roopa will be directly responsible,” Indian Express quotes, as she is saying.
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The DIG further alleged that in the past, Moudgil had even threatened to submit a negative annual report against her. Katiyar urged the chief secretary to take action against Moudgil.
Moudgil, a 2000-batch IPS officer, has got involved in a high-profile public spat with IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri in February 2023, which further led to legal proceedings.
