Reacting strongly to failure of police to control caste violence in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday suspended District Magistrate NP Singh and SSP Subhash Chandra Dubey. The Divisional Commissioner and the range DIG have been transferred.
According to Principal Secretary (Information) Avinish Awasthi, PK Pande will be new DM of Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar SSP Babloo Kumar has been posted as new district police chief of Saharanpur.
The crackdown was made after the Government found that despite of dispatching a battery of senior police officers and a strong contingent of reserved police force, fresh case of stray incidents of firing and stabbing were reported from two places in Saharanpur in which three persons were seriously injured and shifted to hospital on Wednesday.
Yogi, who summoned Director General of Police Sulkhan Singh and Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar, to review the law and order in Saharanpur on Wednesday morning, later dispatched a report to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The State Government spokesperson and Health Minister Sidharthnath Singh told reporters here on Wednesday morning that the situation was under control.
Appealing to the Opposition to assist the Government in normalising the situation, the Minister said the Chief Minister has taken the issue very seriously.
Meanwhile, the UP Government has announced compensation for the deceased and the injured persons. The Government also issued Rs 50,000 each as compensation to the injured persons while a relief of Rs 15 lakh will be given to the family of the man killed in the caste violence on Tuesday.
Meanwhile violence again erupted in the district for the second day on Wednesday after unidentified gunmen shot at a member of the upper-caste Thakur community, which is embroiled in a bloody conflict with Dalits. The incident took place on Janta road in Janakpuri area. Pradeep Chauhan was shot at near Punwarka block by some motorcycle-borne men, SP Prabal Pratap Singh said. Chauhan was rushed to the district hospital, from where he was referred to a speciality centre. Members of the Thakur community protested against the incident outside the district hospital.
Earlier in the day, some persons attacked two men while they were sleeping near a brick kiln in Mirzapur village, the police said. Nitin was shot at, while Yashpal was severely beaten up by the attackers. They have suffered serious injuries and have been admitted to district hospital. The police, however, said the incident cannot be linked to the ongoing caste violence.
Meanwhile, a four-member team led by Home Secretary Mani Prasad Mishra and comprising ADG (law and Order) Aditya Mishra, IG STF Amitabh Yash and DIG (Security) Vijay Bhushan reached Saharanpur late on Tuesday night.
They held a meeting of local officers and other prominent persons and discussed the measures to brought normalcy back in the area. The ADG told the media persons that the cops are closely monitoring the situation and keeping a tight vigil on inflammatory messages on social media.
Aditya said he met those injured in the violence and recuperating in the district hospital and assured them of the best treatment possible. He said there is a trust deficit among the people of different communities and the administration is working to reduce it. The official warned of strict action against those trying to take the law into their hands. So far over two-dozen people were arrested in three separate cases registered in connection with violence.
It may be mentioned that some unidentified persons had set fire to at least 12 houses of Thakurs in Shabbirpur village ahead of the arrival of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati in Saharanpur on Tuesday. A mob later attacked a group of people returning from a rally of Mayawati, killing Ashish (24), who hailed from Sarsawa town, on the spot and injuring four others.