Two senior police officers have been asked to retire by the government on account of their alleged non-performance, PTI reported. The government order said action had been taken against Mayank Sheel Chohan, a 1998-batch Union Territory cadre officer and Raj Kumar Dewangan from the 1992-batch Chhattisgarh cadre in “public interest”.

A service review is conducted twice in an Indian service officer’s career – first after 15 years and again after 25 years of service. “Performance review of IPS officers was conducted to weed out dead wood,” an unidentified Home Ministry official told the news agency. Chohan, who was posted as superintendent of police in Arunachal Pradesh, had staged his own abduction in 2012. Dewangan, an SP in Janjgir-Champa district, was accused of robbery in 1998, reported News18.

The two officers were sacked under the All India Service (Death-Cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules, 1958, according to which, officers who have shown poor performance or are of doubtful integrity must be “compulsory retired in public interest”. Since the Narendra Modi government took charge, nearly 60 officers have been dismissed or given premature retirement over non-performance, NDTV reported.