A day after a young IPS officer was mowed down by a suspected member of the mining mafia in Madhya Pradesh, a senior police officer on Friday said the murder does not appear ‘pre-planned’ at this stage.
"Till now, we do not have any evidence to indicate that the killing of Narendra Kumar Singh was a planned act," Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Chambal Range, D. P. Gupta told reporters here.
No mobile phone has been recovered from Manoj Gurjar, the driver of the tractor-trolley under which the 30-year-old IPS officer was crushed to death at Banmore in Morena district yesterday, he said.
Still, police are trying to trace the mobile phone, if any, on which Gurjar might have received instructions to kill the officer, Gupta said.
The 2009-batch officer 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.
Narrating the sequence of events of the crime, the DIG said the tractor-trolley carrying boulders was stopped by the officer. However, minutes after it came to a halt, the driver Manoj Gurjar restarted it even as Singh clung on to it.
Gupta further said that Manoj then drove the tractor in such a way that the officer lost his grip and came under one of the wheels of the vehicle.
"After this, the trolley carrying stones tipped over him and he was crushed under it," he said.
The DIG dismissed the reports of political pressure, saying, "There is no question of doing so as we have lost a young and dynamic member of our family".
Gupta also said that the police has effectively controlled illegal mining and have so far seized 163 vehicles in Bhind district, 132 in Morena district and 100 in Datia district of the Chambal range.
Singh's wife Madhurani Tewatia, who is an IAS officer posted in Gwalior, is at present on maternity leave. Singh was slated to join her from Saturday.
The IPS officer had stayed back for Holi duty. Meanwhile, Singh's father Keshav Singh told reporters at his native village in Uttar Pradesh that his son used to tell him that although he wanted to do a lot of work, he did not receive desired cooperation from police officers.
The officer was cremated at his native village, 50 km from Mathura, with full state honours in the presence of thousands of mourners.