2 more cops out but stir drags on

Pandey, Tiwari and Kumar have criminal history. The trio were chargesheeted in a case of rioting and attempt to murder in Munghyr district in 1992. ‘‘They had got bail. When they banged the doors of our offices here on February 19 and then proceeded en masse on a five-day leave against our threat to invoke ESMA, we dug out dirt on them,’’ said a senior IPS officer on condition of anonymity.

This state government’s move has also triggered a chain reaction. JPA general secretary Jitendra Hansda met DGP R.R. Prasad last night and called off the stir telling a section of media that the government had accepted their demands, reports in local dailies said this morning. Both Hansda and Pandey couldn’t be located the whole day.

‘‘These chaps (cops) are gradually joining duty,’’ said Prasad. However, although a dozen constables and havildars are attached to the DGP’s office, none of them attended duty and the state secretariat was guarded by RAF armed jawans. Only one cop could be spotted on duty at the Assembly.

But the mood of the agitating cops was palpably subdued and fluctuated between shock and disbelief over Handsa’s reported stand. ‘‘We are still on strike, no matter who said what. Our leader is Pandey and not Hansda,’’ said more than a dozen cops here at the police line complex.

No untoward incident was reported from any part of the state as their agitation to press for redressal of their six-point charter of demands related with their salaries and perks completed fourth day today.