BHOPAL: Three days after police cane-charged a mob involved in violence in a minority-dominated area over alleged stone pelting on a Lord Ganesh procession in MP’s Ratlam, district police chief Rahul Kumar Lodha was removed and posted as SP (Railway) in Bhopal.
Amit Kumar, who was posted as Narsinghpur SP, replaces Lodha as the Ratlam SP, while Mriganki Deka, who was the SP (Railway) in Bhopal, will be the new Narsinghpur SP.
The three IPS officers’ transfer orders happened late on Tuesday night, a few hours after leaders of right-wing outfits under the banner of Sarva Hindu Samaj met Ratlam district collector Rajesh Batham and submitted a memorandum, alleging one-way action by police against the mob which was demanding action against those involved in stone pelting on the procession in Mochipura locality on September 7 night.
The delegation also alleged that the police cane-charge led to the death of 19-year-old Prakash Maida. On Wednesday, outgoing SP Lodha reportedly released a video message, claiming that Prakash’s death was a natural death.
Targeting the MP government over the transfer of the Ratlam SP, Congress Rajya Sabha member Imran Pratapgarhi posted on X, “In MP, brave police officers, who stop the conspiracy of government-sponsored riots, are not rewarded but punished. Ratlam is a perfect example of this.”
On September 7, angry over the alleged stone-pelting on the procession, the mob gathered outside the Station Road police station, after which an FIR was lodged against unidentified accused. But the mob went to the sensitive locality with their religious flag. Police cautioned them, but the mob went ahead, throwing stones in the sensitive area, damaging vehicles of families of the minority community.