CRPF jawan who spoke out against Rajnath Singh after Sukma attack surrenders

The jawan, Pankaj Misra, in a Facebook video alleged home minister Rajnath Singh of misleading Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A CRPF jawan, who ranted against Union home minister Rajnath Singh in a Facebook video after the Sukma attack, surrendered before an additional director general (ADG) level officer of the paramilitary force on Saturday following directions of the Delhi high court. 

In a brutal Maoist attack, 25 CRPF personnel were killed in Chattisgarh’s Sukma district on April 24. Following the attack, a CRPF jawan severely criticised home minister Rajnath Singh in a Facebook video.(PTI File)

Pankaj Mishra , the CRPF jawan who posted the video, had moved the Delhi high court on Thursday to seek protection once he surrenders before chief of the force. 

“Mishra came to the force headquarters on Saturday at 3pm with a lawyer. Since CRPF chief RR Bhatnagar has gone to Maoist hotbeds in Chhattisgarh on his official visit, he was asked to surrender before the ADG-level officer. Now he will be brought before the DG on Monday,” said a CRPF spokesperson. 

Misra was deployed with the CRPF’s 221 battalion at Durgapur in West Bengal. He claimed before the HC that he was assaulted by his superiors after the video went viral. 

The HC directed Misra to give himself up before the CRPF director general. 

Misra claimed that his relative, Abhay Kumar, was among the 25 CRPF personnel killed in the Maoist attack. 

A native of Bihar’s Shahpur in Ara, about 50 km west of Patna, Mishra after uploading the video had told HT that “the entire system was bad. There was nobody to listen to us.” 

Mishra’s video was the latest addition to the growing tribe of security personnel who have ranted against alleged governmental apathy via social media platforms. 

In January, a video posted by BSF trooper Tej Bahadur Yadav about poor quality of food served to jawans, set the social media afire. Later, a CRPF constable – Jeet Singh – asked why paramilitary personnel were not being accorded facilities at par with their counterparts in the Army while they were performing similar tasks. 

In another social media video that surfaced earlier this year, Army lance naik Yagya Pratap Singh alleged harassment by superiors for writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over problems faced by soldiers. 

Yadav has now been dismissed from the service. 

The CRPF will also initiates disciplinary proceedings against Mishra for uploading the video.