Patna, September 23: Gupteshwar Pandey, Bihar Director General of Police (DGP), who was in spotlight for his active role in the investigation of actor Sushant Singh Rajput death case, announced voluntary retirement from service on Tuesday. Pandey's decision triggered speculations that he may contest the upcoming Bihar Assembly Elections 2020 which are likely to be held in October-November. After reports surfaced that top cop may contest the polls in the state, several political leaders slammed him for using his official position to secure a post retirement job for himself by joining politics. However, Pandey has so far, not made any announcement of joining politics post retirement. Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey Takes Voluntary Retirement, SK Singhal Replaces Him.

Taking to Twitter, Congress National Spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said that so far, he had restrained from speaking on Sushant Singh Rajput as it was a complete legal issue. However, Shergill took a dig at the former Bihar DGP and said Gupteshwar was using the actor's death as a springboard to launch his political career. "Till date I had restrained from speaking on SSR (as its pure legal issue) but this has to be said-Bihar DGP Gupteshwar using a young boy’s death as a springboard to launch his political career is sickening, nauseating & disgusting!!", Shergill tweeted. Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey Claims State Police Better Than UK & Canada Cops, Slams Media 'For Showing Department In Bad Light'.

Here's the tweet by Jaiveer Shergill:

Meanwhile, Priyanka Chaturvedi, MP and Shiv Sena Deputy leader, tweeted in Hindi saying, if one wants to do politics, one should fight with courage and truth and not by campaigning in a 'secret' way using someone's unfortunate death as the medium to start one's political career.

Here's the tweet by Priyanka Chaturvedi:

Congress Spokesperson Shama Mohamed said that Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey abusing official position in lieu of post retirement jobs or election tickets from BJP has become a trend. "Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey, who commented on Rhea Chakraborty's 'aukaat', takes VRS, may contest elections. Abusing official position in lieu of post retirement jobs or election tickets from BJP has become a trend. Can people believe in institutional independence after this?", she tweeted.

Here's the tweet by Shama Mohamed:

The application of the 1987-batch IPS officer has been accepted by the Bihar government. A notification by the state home department  informed that Pandey's request seeking voluntary retirement was approved by Governor Phagu Chauhan. The Nitish Kumar government has appointed S. K. Singhal as the DGP in-charge in his place.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 23, 2020 12:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).