Apparently succumbing to pressure from the Centre, the Chhattisgarh chief minister, Mr Raman Singh, has reportedly given his nod to take action against the two IPS officers, posted in Dantewada, for the “command failure” that had led to killing of 76 security personnel by Maoists at Chintalnar on April 6, official sources said here on
Friday. Mr Singh who remained defiant till recently on his stand not to disturb the two police officers, has reportedly changed his mind following his recent meeting with Union home minister P. Chidambaram here, official sources said.
“Mr Singh’s defiance, even in the face of mounting pressure from the Centre to fix responsibility on Dantewada superintendent of police (SP) Amresh Mishra and inspector general of police (IGP), Bastar region, T.J. Longkumar for the worst ever casualty of security personnel at the hand of the Maoists, has seriously upset the Union home minister P. Chidambaram.
Mr Chidambaram had taken up the matter with the chief minister, when the former was here on June 2 to attend the 40th Indian Police Science Congress. He tried to impress upon the chief minister on the need for action against the two police officers, as per the recommendation of E.N. Rammohan Committee, which probed the incident. Mr Singh had reportedly assured Mr Chidambaram to reconsider his decision,” a senior official of state home department told this newspaper here requesting anonymity. Sources said the chief minister had reportedly held a detail discussion with the top brass of state police on the issue here recently to find out a way to give effect to the Centre’s directive without “affecting the morale of policemen”.
“A face-saving formula has been evolved. Accordingly, it has been decided to include these two police officers in seasonal transfer chain of police officers, which will appear a routine affair,” the official disclosed. “A major reshuffle in the police department is going to be effected from this month. These two police officers are likely to be shunted out quietly in the proposed shuffling,” the official added.