Lucknow: UP police arrested a senior former IPS officer Amitabh Thakur at his residence in Lucknow on Friday in a dramatic fashion. He was shoved into a police jeep at his residence in Lucknow even as he protested and resisted being taken away all in full public view.

According to the UP police statement that evidence found during a preliminary probe had implicated on him. The police action was captured in a video recording that sparked much outrage. I will not go unless you show me an FIR, he is heard saying.

Former IPS officer Thakur was earlier suspended from service in July 2015 under the Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav Government. Days before that, he had accused former Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav of threatening him. His suspension was, however, stayed in April 2016 and he was reinstated.

Union Home Ministry ordered Thakur’s premature retirement saying he was not found fit to be retained for the remaining tenure of his service in March – 2021, he would have retired in 2028.

Amitabh Thakur’s wife, RTI activist Nutan Thakur had said this month that he would be contesting against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the upcoming State elections. The former officer himself had declared this on social media. A little before his arrest, he proposed the name of his new political party Adhikar Sena.