Mandsaur firing: Probe panel gives a clean chit to Madhya Pradesh police, CRPF

BHOPAL: Giving a clean chit to Madhya Pradesh police and CRPF personnel who opened fire on agitating farmers in Mandsaur June last year, the Justice JK Jain Commission said they did so in self-defence. The Commission was constituted by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government to probe the killing of five farmers in police firing at two places in Pipliyamandi town of Mandsaur district on June 6, 2017.

According to the contents of the report leaked to the press, the first firing incident happened in Bahi Parshavnath Chaupati near Pipliyamandi town, where a mob surrounded a group of CRPF personnel and began pelting stones at them.

The mob subsequently caught two CRPF personnel and assaulted them while trying to snatch their rifles. Other CRPF men who tried to help their colleagues too were assaulted. After repeated warnings, the CRPF personnel opened fire, killing two protesters and injuring three others.

The second incident happened at Pipliyamandi police station a few hours later between 1.30 pm and 2 pm where a 1,500-2,000 strong unruly mob encircled the police station. The mob allegedly tried to burn cops alive.

The report, whose contents The New Indian Express accessed, adds that even the on-duty cops’ attempts to control the mob by firing tear gas shells and lathi charge did not work. The angry mob instead started attacking and hurting the cops, which put the life of personnel present in the police station in danger.

Grave intelligence failure, says report

According to the report, intelligence network of the district administration was weak, which resulted in the local authorities and police getting information about road blockade just 13 km away, only after two hours