On July 30, the police in Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh) forcibly dispersed a group of kanwariyas, who allegedly refused to obey instructions and also raised slogans. In the aftermath, senior Uttar Pradesh police officer Prabhakar Chaudhary was transferred. Now, he has been offered the position of commandant of the Lucknow-based 32nd Battalion of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC).

The news of his transfer got much traction on social media and now, the topic is being widely discussed all across the nation. The reason behind it is that this is the 18th time that the 2010-batch IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre received transfer orders in 8 years. It has only been four months into his posting as the SSP of Bareilly. The transfer came after he ordered a lathi charge to disperse kanwariyas.

Who Is IPS Prabhakar Chaudhary?

IPS Prabhakar Chaudhary hails from Ambedkar Nagar district of UP. In his first attempt, he passed the civil services examination and went on to get recruited as a 2010 batch IPS officer in the UP cadre. He graduated with a Bachelors of Science degree from Allahabad University. Later, he also studied law. He started his career as an under-training assistant superintendent of police (ASP) in Noida and then served in Ballia, Bulandshahr, Meerut, Sitapur, Varanasi and Kanpur police departments.

As per the sources, in 2017, Chaudhary cracked down on the mafia and local gangs, when he was given charge of Mathura district. In 2016, when he was transferred to Kanpur Dehat, he preferred to travel by bus carrying his bag on his back despite having a government vehicle. He also made headlines for driving his own car to take injured people to the hospital during a rescue effort in Kanpur Dehat. Prabhakar is known for defying VIP culture. He often shocks people with his distinct approach to inspecting the cases.

Prabhakar’s transfer has invited strong criticism from the people who are slamming the Yogi Adityanath government by saying that an IPS officer is being punished for doing his duty.