Rajasthan home minister Gulab Chand Kataria Thursday said it would be “morally wrong” for him to order a CBI probe against the police force he heads for gunning down Anandpal Singh in an encounter whose veracity is being questioned by the slain gangster’s family and the Opposition leaders.
“How can I order a CBI probe against my own force? They risked their lives while facing Anandpal Singh in Churu. I’m the head of the police force. It is morally wrong for me to ask for a CBI probe against my own men,” Kataria said.
The minister said the slain gangster’s family was free to move court. “They can move court if they want it to be probed. We are ready to face any probe but we cannot order it on our own,” he added.
“I was assigned a duty and police force worked on it. I stand by my police force today and I’ll stand with them tomorrow. If the High Court or the Supreme Court orders a probe then we will face it,” the minister said.
He said the gangster was asked to surrender several times and it can be ascertained from the statements of the persons arrested from the house where he had taken shelter. “We have followed all the 16 guidelines laid by the Supreme Court for police encounters. We have got a re-postmortem done and handed over the body to his family,” Kataria said. “If I order a probe against state police, than how will I work with them tomorrow? The policemen, who risked their life, worked for two years to nab a person who carried reward of Rs 5 lakh. Despite that, if I do not support my police morally, than what right do I have to remain on this post,” the minister said.
{{/usCountry}}He said the gangster was asked to surrender several times and it can be ascertained from the statements of the persons arrested from the house where he had taken shelter. “We have followed all the 16 guidelines laid by the Supreme Court for police encounters. We have got a re-postmortem done and handed over the body to his family,” Kataria said. “If I order a probe against state police, than how will I work with them tomorrow? The policemen, who risked their life, worked for two years to nab a person who carried reward of Rs 5 lakh. Despite that, if I do not support my police morally, than what right do I have to remain on this post,” the minister said.
{{/usCountry}}The home minister said there were 34 criminal cases against Anandpal, who had “killed many innocents”. He escaped from jail and “government spent Rs 8 crore to table a reply in the state assembly”.
On the Opposition Congress’s demand of CBI probe, he said it was the misfortune of the country that for vote politics, some have lost their dignity. “I believe that a gangster has no caste. It is unfortunate that people are being divided in the name of the caste,” he added.
Kataria termed yesterday’s violence over the issue as “unfortunate” and said that members of the Rajput community were given permission to hold a peaceful rally.
“Cases will be registered against the guilty. 150-200 people have been arrested. Of the 32 injured, 24 are policemen. One policeman’s condition is critical. One Lalchand from Haryana was killed in the clashes,” he said.
He said the violence has now left “no scope for any relaxation” and action will be taken against anyone talking the law in their hands.