The Chhattisgarh government has transferred the collector and the superintendent of police (SP) of Kabirdham district after the mob violence and the death of a person in custody. Along with this, the Chief Minister has also removed 23 policemen posted there, including the inspector and assistant sub-inspector of Rengakhar police station, on the information of policemen beating up villagers after this incident.
The government has appointed Gopal Verma as the collector in place of Kabirdham district collector Janmejay Mahobe. Kabirdham district’s Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallav has been removed and Rajesh Kumar Agarwal has been appointed as the Superintendent of Police in his place.
The state government has posted Mahobe as Managing Director Civil Supplies Corporation and Abhishek Pallav as Assistant Inspector General of Police at the Police Headquarters. Officials said that IPS Vikas Kumar posted as Additional Superintendent of Police in Kabirdham district has already been suspended.
Giving information about this, an official said that Chief Minister Vishnudev Sai has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident of arson and death of Deputy Sarpanch Raghunath Sahu in Loharidih village of Kabirdham district on September 15. He said that for this, the Collector and District Magistrate Kabirdham has appointed Additional District Magistrate Nirbhay Kumar Sahu as the investigation officer. He has been asked to investigate the prescribed points and submit a report within 30 days.
Let us tell you that last Sunday in Loharidih village of Rengakhar police station area, a mob set fire to the house of Deputy Sarpanch Raghunath Sahu. Raghunath Sahu died in this incident.
Police officials said preliminary investigations revealed that Raghunath Sahu was attacked due to suspicion that he had killed another villager, Kachru Sahu. Kachru Sahu’s body was found hanging from a tree in Bijatola village under Balaghat district of neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.
69 people were arrested for arson at the deputy sarpanch’s house. However, the death of a man named Prashant Sahu in judicial custody on September 18 created even more uproar. Opposition leaders claim that Sahu was beaten to death by the police, a charge also accepted by Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma. Following this, Kabirdham’s Additional Superintendent of Police Vikas Kumar was suspended, and a judicial inquiry was initiated into the custodial death.
Congress leader and former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel visited the village on September 19 and demanded the resignation of Deputy CM Sharma. At the same time, the Congress opened a front against the state government over the incident. The party had announced a one-day Chhattisgarh bandh on Saturday to highlight the deteriorating law and order situation in the state, accusing the state government of failing to prevent the incident.
