Gujarat riot cop chief promoted, man who complained ignored

In a reshuffle of Gujarat’s top police officials today, R B Sreekumar, whose affidavit and deposition before the Gujarat riots commissi...

In a reshuffle of Gujarat’s top police officials today, R B Sreekumar, whose affidavit and deposition before the Gujarat riots commission had embarrassed the Modi government, was superceded for promotion.

On the other hand, P C Pande, who was police commissioner of Ahmedabad during the riots, has been promoted to Director General rank, and will take charge as director of the state Anti-Corruption Bureau. Pande is currently on deputation to the CISF.

While promoting three of its four Addl DGs to DG rank, the government preferred Sreekumar’s junior, K R Kaushik, over him. Sreekumar is from the 1971 IPS batch while Kaushik is from the 1972 batch.

Deposing before the Justice G T Nanavati and Justice K G Shah Inquiry Commission last year, Sreekumar had alleged lapses in heeding intelligence reports and said the police force had been tied down by political interference.

As for Pande, his posting in the CBI as Addl Director in 2003 had snowballed into a controversy after petitioners pointed out in the Supreme Court that the agency was probing riot-related cases. Last October, the Centre told the court it was shifting Pande from the CBI.