The father of the young IPS officer mowed down by a suspected member of the mining mafia in Madhya Pradesh on Friday alleged there was a well-planned conspiracy against his son who did not receive cooperation of local police and authorities.
As the incident on Thursday triggered an outrage, state Congress leader Manak Aggarwal demanded a judicial probe into the killing of 30-year-old Narendra Kumar Singh, a 2009-batch IPS officer. Kumar's wife Madhurani Tewatia is an IAS officer posted in Gwalior and is currently on maternity leave.
Amid scenes of uncontrolled grief, Kumar's wife and family members at his native village, 50 km from Mathura, were in a state of deep shock as the Holi celebrations turned tragic.
The officer was cremated at his native village with full state honours in the presence of thousands of mourners.
"It is clear that this was a well-planned conspiracy. He did not receive cooperation of the local police. He stopped vehicles carrying stones for check. Is it the work of the IPS officer, or the work of a thana-level police?" said Kumar's father Keshav Dev.
Kumar was crushed under the wheels of a tractor-trolley driven by an alleged member of the mining mafia in Morena yesterday when he tried to stop the vehicle carrying stones in Morena district.
MP Home Minister Minister Uma Shankar Gupta told reporters that the government would take a stern action against those responsible, and especially against mining mafia.
An inquiry has been ordered into the incident, he added. Gupta said the tractor driven by a person identified as Gurjar was arrested and a case registered under section 302 (murder) of the IPC against the people involved.
Kumar was posted at Banmore as Sub Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) a month ago and had taken on the mining mafia by seizing number of trucks and tractors engaged in illegal quarrying, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Chambal Range D P Gupta said.
The incident occurred at Banmore at around 1 pm when Kumar, who was out on patrolling in his official jeep, saw the trolley loaded with stones, he said.
Kumar signalled the driver to stop but he did not pay heed. So, he followed the vehicle, cut in and stood in front of the vehicle after getting down from his jeep.
But the tractor driver, Manoj Gurjar, drove on and knocked down the officer who was crushed under the wheels, DIG Gupta said.
The officer was declared brought dead at the hospital, he said, adding prima facie it appeared that the mining mafia, which is active in the area, was responsible for the incident.
The DIG said Kumar had been trying hard to stop illegal quarrying activities in the area and in the process he got killed.
He said Gurjar was being interrogated and "we are trying to ascertain whom he was working with".
Inspector General of Police S W Naqvi said the tractor did not stop on being asked by Kumar and ran him over.
Naqvi said Kumar had never reported any kind of threat to his life. "Absolutely no. There was no threat to him. He did not express any kind of threat to anybody," he added.
DGP Nandan Dubey said it was not correct to say that mining mafia was ruling the area. Kumar has already taken actions in 20 cases where no license was found,he added.
"Kumar was an exceptionally outgong kind of officer. He was taking a lot of initiatives....and he has taken significant actions", he said.
Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Ajay Singh, said the incident showed how bad law and order situation was.
"One can imagine the law and order situation in a state where people are so emboldened that they can think of killing an IPS officer," the Congress leader said in a statement.
Morena district MP and BJP leader Narendra Singh Tomar said illegal mining was rampant in the area and demanded stern action against the menace.
"Illegal mining in Morena district has crossed all limits and the government must take stern measures," he said.
"The incident of young IPS officer Narendra Kumar Singh's alleged murder is a matter of serious concern and really unfortunate," said Tomar, who is also a BJP general secretary.
He denied members of ruling BJP were involved in the illegal mining.