He was deputed as Poll Observer at Odisha

New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) yesterday suspended a General Observer belonging to Karnataka IAS cadre for allegedly checking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s helicopter in Odisha’s Sambalpur on Tuesday.

Mohammed Mohsin was suspended with immediate effect for acting contrary to the instructions of the Commission concerning SPG protectees and will be posted at Sambalpur till further orders, a poll panel letter dated Apr. 16 said.

A Karnataka cadre Officer of the Indian Administrative Service, Mohsin was deputed as a General Observer and working under the supervision of the poll panel in Odisha. “… the Commission has considered the material available before it and prima facie finds it dereliction of duty,” said the letter.

Sources said that when PM Modi reached Sambalpur to address a rally on Tuesday, election officials inspected his convoy, which constituted a violation of protocol. A Senior Police Officer present at Sambalpur airstrip, speaking on condition of anonymity said, “A team of poll officials led by Mohsin inspected some papers in the chopper carrying the PM. The inspection delayed his arrival at the meeting venue by around 20 minutes which was reported to the ECI.”

The Prime Minister had visited Odisha on Tuesday and addressed two rallies in Sambalpur and Bhubaneswar.

Mohsin is presently Secretary in the Backward Classes Department. Karnataka Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar said he was not aware of the incident and said the State cannot intervene in the matter.