In the recently concluded UP assembly elections, two former police officers won their respective seats. One of them had launched investigations against top political leaders of the country including a former Union Home Minister. Known as the ‘encounter specialist’, his name was synonymous with fear among criminals during his deployment in Lucknow and Prayagraj in UP. When he went on deputation to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), he exposed big scams such as 2G scam and coal block allocation.
He is Mr. Rajeshwar Singh, and he will now be an MLA in the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh. 1997-batch Provincial Police Service (PPS) officer Rajeshwar Singh has become an MLA from Sarojini Nagar assembly seat in Lucknow by winning the elections on a BJP ticket. He had retired after taking VRS to contest,after 24 years in service. He still had 11 years of service left. He was working as the Joint Director of ED Lucknow Zone at the time of applying for VRS.
WHO IS RAJESHWAR SINGH?
Born on 11th March, 1973, Rajeshwar Singh is a native of Pakhrauli in Sultanpur district of UP. He comes from a distinguished family of bureaucrats in Sultanpur. His father, Late Ran Bahadur Singh, had retired from the post of DIG from UP Police and also received the President’s Gallantry Medal.
The family is originally from Sultanpur, but Rajeshwar Singh was born in Lucknow and studied here. After passing 12th from Colvin Taluqdars’ College, he did his graduation in engineering from Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad. He also has a degree in Law and Human Rights. Later, he completed his PhD too.
His wife Laxmi Singh is an IPS officer and is currently posted as IG Lucknow Range. His younger sister Meenakshi Singh is in the post of Income Tax Commissioner. His elder brother-in-law Yogesh Pratap Singh was an IPS officer and after retirement, he is practicing in Mumbai High Court. Younger brother-in-law Rajiv Krishna is posted as ADG in UP Police. Recently, his niece Isha Singh has also been selected in the IPS.
METEORIC RISE IN SERVICE
In 1996, Rajeshwar Singh became a PPS officer by clearing Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) exam. After being selected in the Provincial Police Service, his first posting was in Lucknow as DSP. He was the CO of important circles like Hazratganj and Gomtinagar in Lucknow and he quickly created his identity as an encounter specialist.
He climbed the ladder of success very fast. In the beginning of his career, he had the simultaneous charge of Gomtinagar CO (Crime) and CO (Traffic). He has 13 encounters in his name. He is also considered an expert in Human Rights and technology.
Within 14 months of joining the UP Police, he made a name for himself. He was known as ‘Encounter Specialist’ and ‘Cyber James Bond’. During his tenure in the ED, Rajeshwar Singh seized assets worth around Rs 3000 crore of the defenders. Under his leadership, the ED seized assets worth Rs 223 crore in the 2G spectrum scam, Rs 1000 crore in the Reddy case, Rs 750 crore in the Aircel-Maxis case, and about Rs 300 crore in the Madhu Koda case.
Surprisingly, in 2018, the BJP government started investigation against Rajeshwar Singh, and he was sent on a long leave.
BIG CASES UNDER HIM
Due to his handling of important scams of the country while in ED, he came to the notice of the whole country. During his stint in Delhi headquarters, he investigated high profile cases like 2G scam, Jagan Reddy case, Colgate case, Commonwealth game scam, Agusta-Westland helicopter deal case, OP Chautala’s high profile case, etc. In 2009, eight ministers including the then CM of Jharkhand were arrested in a four thousand crores scam. Along with big investigations, big controversies were also associated with him.
Apart from the Aircel-Maxis deal case, Rajeshwar Singh has been part of the investigative teams that probed every corruption case that rocked the UPA government since 2009. He had also sent Sahara chief Subrata Rai to jail for illegally taking 24000 crores from people in the name of housing finance.
ELECTION CAMPAIGN
Rajeshwar Singh joined BJP after taking Voluntary Retirement (VRS) and contested the elections. He defeated Samajwadi Party candidate Abhishek Mishra by a margin of 56186 votes. Yogi government’s minister Swati Singh’s ticket was cancelled from Sarojini Nagar and given to Rajeshwar Singh, such is his clout.
After getting the ticket, Mr. Singh mentioned in a letter written to the voters of Lucknow and Sarojini Nagar, “I will take forward the ideology of BJP. The ideology of the party is the future of the country. Yogiji is doing a very good job against mafia. We need to support him. There is a need to control the growing communalism.”
