EC suspends IAS officer for PM's chopper search

The Election Commission (EC) has suspended a Karnakata official for leading a search on the helicopter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Odisha, where the bureaucrat was deployed as a poll observer.

Mohammed Mohsin, an IAS officer of the 1996 batch, has been placed “under suspension with immediate effect and till further orders”.

He was suspended for “dereliction of duty” after the local unit of the BJP cried foul over a search conducted by a flying squad of the EC on the helicopter the prime minister flew in, during his visit to Sambalpur on Tuesday. Modi was on a tour to Odisha to campaign for the BJP candidates.

Mohsin led the EC flying squad that conducted the search on the PM's helicopters.

The EC, in its order, stated that the senior IAS officer had been placed under suspension as he had acted contrary to the instructions of the commission, exempting the travels by the dignitaries protected by the Special Protection Group from the purview of such searches.