Days after transfer as Sagar SP, IPS officer Anurag Sujania resigns amid ongoing liquor row in M.P.

Just days after being reassigned from his position as Sagar Superintendent of Police, IPS officer Anurag Sujania has submitted his resignation from service, citing personal reasons. Sujania, along with Sagar Collector Pratibha Pal, was removed on October 27, nearly a month following a hooch tragedy that claimed more than 25 lives in the district.

This bureaucratic reshuffle coincided with a more recent alleged hooch tragedy in Dewas, leading to the transfer of both the Dewas Collector and Superintendent of Police. Sujania, an IPS officer from the 2014 cadre, had been posted in Sagar since May. Police authorities have yet to accept his resignation, but sources within the department confirmed his decision, attributing it to his discontent with the transfer.

They believe Sujania and the Sagar officials may have faced consequences due to government pressure to act against the Dewas officials. The state government is currently facing scrutiny over various liquor-related incidents, including a police inspector's death in Dewas and alleged deaths of 13 people in the district in October.

Sujania reportedly believed that the police conducted a swift investigation in the Sagar hooch tragedy and arrested all the accused, leading him to feel the transfer was unjust. During his visit to Sagar during the hooch tragedy in early September, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav gave the police a "free hand," with rumors of the Collector and SP's removal circulating.

After the CM's visit, the police made several arrests in the case, including key accused following brief encounters. Sujaina served as SP in Morena and Mandsaur districts, where he oversaw two major hooch tragedies – one in Sagar and another in Morena in 2021 that claimed 24 lives. A source in Bhopal stated that a high-level meeting is likely to address the resignation, with Chief Minister Mohan Yadav expected to attend.