PUNE, India, 25 April 2008 — The Maharashtra government has accepted the premature voluntary retirement of Nashik Police Commissioner Shamshuddin Mohiuddin Sayed, a senior Muslim Indian Police Service officer. Sayed had 15 months left for his regular retirement.
Sayed’s early departure came as a shock and surprise to several IPS and other ranking officials in the state police force. A devout Muslim, Sayed was polite, soft-spoken and humble.
Citing the reasons for Sayed’s retirement, a deputy commissioner of police said that for the past three months the officer was feeling uncomfortable with the media attack on him. He said the worst incident was during the anti-migrant campaign by Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, when the Hindu-dominated press attacked and blamed him for not dealing firmly with the MNS rioters.
The officer also said the “hostile media” ran several disinformation campaigns against him, saying he had manipulated his sickness to avoid handling the situation in Nashik. But the fact was that Sayed had a prostrate problem and was admitted in hospital. The media then came out with another story saying Sayed was faking his sickness to avoid meeting Director General of Police Anami Roy, who was visiting Nashik. This was untrue, said the deputy commissioner, as Sayed got discharged from the hospital and met Roy.
Another senior police officer told Arab News that Sayed was also the target of hate journalism by the Nashik media for his faith. This hatred filled campaign did not go well with Sayed. He decided to take early retirement despite attempts by his colleagues to dissuade him.
