Senior police officer Ms. Shreshtha Thakur who stood up to bullying by a group of BJP workers in Bulandshahr last week and sent five of them to jail is among 234 officers who have been transferred by the Yogi Adityanath government. The officer, who was part of the Syana circle, will be transferred to Bahraich. Reports say the transfer came after the insistence of local BJP leaders, who said it was necessary to lift the morale of the party workers.

Earlier Ms Shreshtha Thakur had stood up to the arguing, slogan-shouting men after a local party worker, Pramod Lodhi, was fined for not carrying necessary documents while driving a motorbike. When he misbehaved with the police personnel, he was arrested. Later, five others who were allegedly obstructing officers from doing their job were arrested as well.

“You please go and get written orders from the Chief Minister that the police have no right to check vehicles... that we can’t do our job,” Ms Thakur is heard saying in the video. “we leave our families at home at night not to have fun but to do our job”. The officer was also heard accusing the BJP workers of “bringing a bad name to your party”. “People will soon start saying that you are BJP’s goondas,” she said.

“We had complained to the high command about this. We told our senior leaders that the officer does not know how to deal with the public,” said Himanshu Mittal, the city president of the BJP in Bulandshahr.

However Ms Thakur told media “I cannot say if my transfer is routine or political, but the fact is that none of my batchmates have been transferred”.

The women officer also said she has been posted in Bulandshahr only for 8 months. “I have been transferred far away from home. My family lives in Delhi, but that’s okay, it’s my job,” she added. The BJP workers had alleged that one of the policemen had asked for a Rs. 2000 bribe.