A search for answers

Two events concerning the police, one unusual and the other on expected lines, have marked Gujarat8217;s news calendar in recent days.

Two events concerning the police, one unusual and the other on expected lines, have marked Gujarat8217;s news calendar in recent days.

The unusual event is the emptying of wells in Ode village to look for evidence six years after a 2002 riot case. Twenty-seven people were burnt to death in Ode village in Central Gujarat and for over a week now, a Special Investigation Team has been draining out water from wells to hunt for the remains of those killed.

The expected event of the week is the reshuffle of IPS officials8212;the first-ever after the assembly elections of 2007. Officers shunted out by the Election Commission before the 2007 polls have now been rehabilitated.

Bureaucratic reshuffling usually suits political expediency so the IAS-IPS reshuffle does not come as a surprise. While the IAS top brass was reshuffled in April, the IPS reshuffle was done on Wednesday.

In the run-up to the elections, the Election Commission had found some IPS officers incapable of carrying out impartial work. Instead of simply transferring them, the Commission forbade them for holding any position. But now, all these officers have been rewarded with plum postings.

And then, Satish Sharma, the IPS officer who is said to have done some exemplary work during the 2002 riots, has now been appointed the principal of the Police Training School in Vadodara8212;considered a low profile post.

In November 2007, the Election Commission had to summon the chief secretary as the state government had delayed Sharma8217;s appointment during the poll preparation exercise. It was only after the EC summons that Sharma was appointed in place of an officer who is known to be close to Home Minister Amit Shah.

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Sharma has an interesting predecessor at the training school. Geeta Johari, an IPS officer who now is a member of the SC-appointed Special Investigation Team SIT to probe afresh the 2002 riot cases and also probed Sohrabuddin8217;s controversial encounter, held the same post in Vadodara a few years ago.

The SIT investigation into the Ode case has the state riveted. Since May 13, the SIT has been trying to empty a step well and an abandoned well in the village, flooding the village streets with water and unspoken resentment. The hunt is on for remains of those killed, who are feared to have been dumped in these wells.

The village is dominated by the Patels, who are influential and have strong overseas connections. Here, the Muslims stayed out for long, too terrified to return to their ravaged homes. While they were away, they got the Hindus to till their land in exchange for a portion of the farm produce. Of the accused, four have fled abroad, while three have died.