SP gets marching orders after stand-off with tribals

Following complaints of harassment from tribals,the state government on Tuesday removed West Midnapore SP Rajesh Singh from his post and sent him for compulsory waiting.

East Midnapore SP Ashok Prasad was also removed and transferred to Sixth Battalion of Kolkata Police. In the last two years,the government has transferred four SPs in East Midnapore.

Singh and Prasad are among the 10 IPS officers whose transfer orders were issued on Tuesday.

Ajay Kumar,an accused in the Rizwanur case whose promotion was due last year,has been transferred from the post of SSP (CID) to assistant inspector general in the state police.

For Singh,the problem started on November 3 last when there was a mine blast on the route of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Union Minister for Steel Ram Vilas Paswan while they were going for the foundation-laying ceremony of JSWs steel project at Salboni. Following the blast,the West Midnapore police started a crackdown on the villagers around the site.

On November 6,when a police contingent raided two villages,Dalilpur and Chhotobelia,tribal women resisted and in the scuffle that ensued,14 women,two of them seriously,got injured. After the incident,the tribals started an agitation,digging up roads and setting up road blocks. One of their demands was that Singh must be punished.

The government later set up a one-man committee comprising Backward Class Welfare secretary RD Meena to probe the entire episode. The committee,while recommending compensation for the 14 women,also admitted to excesses on the part of the police.

Story continues below this ad

I wont say there were atrocities on the part of the police,but they definitely got involved in the incident, Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram