FIR against CRPF for ‘violating’ orders during Hemant Soren questioning

Ranchi SP Chandan Sinha said, “We registered an FIR Sunday at the instance of one of duty magistrates overseeing the law-and-order situation in Ranchi Saturday when CM Soren was questioned. The allegations are that there was no coordination with the district administration for CRPF deployment. Also, CRPF personnel violated prohibitory orders (Section 144, CrPC).”

A press release signed by party general secretaries Supriyo Bhattacharya and Vinod Pandey had stated that if the JMM workers had not shown restraint, a violent situation could have arisen. “This act was a premeditated conspiracy…This is at the behest of the Central government, which is an attempt to destabilise the state government and is a cowardly attack on the federal structure,” the release had alleged.

More than 500 supporters of the CM sat outside CM’s residence, including those carrying bows and arrows, but there is no word on the violation of prohibitory orders against them. A CRPF official, on the condition of anonymity, had told The Indian Express: “We were there at the behest of the ED and they had given it to us in writing. There is nothing more to it.”

Meanwhile BJP state president Babulal Marandi said: “CRPF officers…came to protect the ED officers and to protect them from hired people armed with bows and arrows…this attempt to misuse police power to intimidate the central agency and central security forces will prove costly.”