The Gujarat government reinstated IPS officer Vipul Aggarwal in state police on Wednesday. His suspension was revoked as the Bombay High Court had granted him bail in the Tulsiram Prajapati encounter case in October this year.
He is the third IPS officer accused in encounter cases to be reinstated after being granted bail. The 2001 batch IPS officer, SP Aggarwal, was lodged in Palanpur sub-jail after his arrest in the case by the state CID Crime in 2010, the agency that was investigating the case before the CBI took over.
The state Home Department had revoked Aggarwal’s suspension and decided to bring him back to the state police. The Home Department finalised his reinstatement on Wednesday. However, the department is yet to decide his posting area.
State Home Secretary G S Malik said, “We had moved Aggarwal’s file last week for reinstatement to the General Administrative Department for the approval. The state DGP has been informed about the reinstatement and the government will decide the next procedure.”
The state government had last reinstated Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter accused SP Abhay Chudasama and Ishrat Jahan encounter accused SP Girish Singhal after they were granted bail in the respective cases. Chudasama is posted in the DG Vigilance Department and Singhal is posted in the state armed unit in Gandhinagar. The sources in the Home Department said that the officials are considering to post Aggarwal in state armed unit.