Karnal: The Haryana government late on Thursday transferred 29 IPS officers and an HPS officer, including Karnal Range inspector general (IG) Ashok Kumar and superintendent of police (SP) Narender Bijarniya.
In orders issued by home department additional chief secretary Sudhir Rajpal, 2006-batch IPS officer Ashwin Shenvi has been posted as the new Karnal IG. Shenvi, who returns from central deputation at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), will also hold additional charge of IGP, Haryana Armed Police (HAP) in Karnal’s Madhuban.
Meanwhile, 2015-batch IPS officer Karan Goel has been transferred from the post of deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Gurugram, to SP, Karnal.
Ashok Kumar has been sent to the Police Training College in Sunaria, while Bijarniya will serve as SP, Special Task Force (Headquarters).
The Karnal reshuffle is being seen as the direct fallout of a double encounter killing last month. The crisis began with the daylight murder of Veeru Valmiki by two motorcycle-borne men in Karnal on August 5, following an alleged social media confrontation with a gangster. The murder triggered anger among members of the Valmiki community and his family, who staged a protest the following day and refused to lift his body while demanding action against those responsible. Hours later, during the midnight of August 7, Harsh, a resident of Kala Majra village in Karnal and a Ror community youth, and Birbal, from Matarwa Kheri village of Kaithal, were killed in a police encounter near Goghripur village. Police claimed that the two were connected to Veeru’s murder.
However, the Ror community dubbed the encounter as fake and questioned the circumstances surrounding the entire case. They demanded a high-level probe by the CBI, an apology from Karnal BJP MLA Jagmohan Anand for his controversial statements, and transfer and disciplinary action against the police personnel responsible.
{{/usCountry}}However, the Ror community dubbed the encounter as fake and questioned the circumstances surrounding the entire case. They demanded a high-level probe by the CBI, an apology from Karnal BJP MLA Jagmohan Anand for his controversial statements, and transfer and disciplinary action against the police personnel responsible.
{{/usCountry}}A few days later, the state government handed over the investigation of the encounter case lodged at Madhuban police station to the state Crime Branch, led by additional director general of police (ADGP) Sanjay Kumar.
On August 30, MLA Anand apologised to the Ror community for his statements after Union minister and Karnal MP Manohar Lal Khattar intervened to resolve the deadlock. Khattar also spoke with outgoing Bijarniya multiple times during his two-day visit to Karnal last weekend. While the community welcomed the MLA’s apology, they continued to demand a CBI probe and immediate action against the involved officers.
On Thursday, Akhil Bharatiya Ror Mahasabha president Balkar Singh Pundri called a meeting for Saturday to discuss their next course of action, just hours before the transfer orders were issued.