Centre, state fight over dead, Shinde stays back in the US
29 May 2013 1:10 AM GMT
The centre-state friction over enquiry into the Naxal attack continued unabated even as controversy surrounding the absence of Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde four days after the Chhattisgarh incident gathered heat on Tuesday.
A day after the central government announced NIA probe into the killings, Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh ordered an independent inquiry by a High Court judge into the matter. Rubbishing Congress party charges that adequate security was not provided to its leaders who were travelling in the Naxal-hit Bastar region as part of their ‘Parivartan Rally’, Singh said, ‘The charge that we did not provide adequate security is not correct. The government did make arrangements to ensure the safety of leaders who were on the yatra. But definitely there were some security lapses. An inquiry has already been ordered to fix the responsibility.’ He also wrote a letter to the state Governor claiming that nearly 800 securitymen were deputed for the Congress rally.
On the other hand, Minister of State for Home RPN Singh in an interview to a news channel conceded that there was a security lapse that resulted in the Chhattisgarh attack by the Naxals and alleged that standard operating procedures issued were not followed by the state police and anyone found guilty will not be spared. To BJP’s suspicions about a biased probe by the NIA, Singh said it was extremely unfortunate that the investigating agency was brought under suspicion by the opposition party. Singh denied the BJP’s claims that the central government was laying the blame at the state government’s doorstep and said they weren’t blaming anyone for now. NIA is likely to probe whether top Naxal leader Katakam Sudarshan was behind the attack.
On being asked about Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s absence, Singh refused to comment, but said Shinde was in constant touch with him as well as Raman Singh. ‘Shinde is in constant touch with the ministry and with me… he has been hands on… he will be back shortly,’ Singh said.
Shinde has been criticised by the opposition for not returning home with his ministry officials and extending his trip till 29 May. Shinde was also compared with David Cameron who had cut short his Paris visit after the Woolwich attack. Home ministry officials, however, said Shinde had scheduled his visit till 29 May from before.
Meanwhile, heads rolled in the Chhattisgarh police administration on Tuesday with the government suspending Bastar SP Mayank Shrivastava and shunting out Bastar range IGP Himanshu Gupta.Shrivastava has been attached to DGP office till further order and Gupta will now serve as IG, crime investigation department (CID).
Ajay Yadav will be new SP of Bastar district and Arun Deo Gautam IG, Bastar range.
A day after the central government announced NIA probe into the killings, Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh ordered an independent inquiry by a High Court judge into the matter. Rubbishing Congress party charges that adequate security was not provided to its leaders who were travelling in the Naxal-hit Bastar region as part of their ‘Parivartan Rally’, Singh said, ‘The charge that we did not provide adequate security is not correct. The government did make arrangements to ensure the safety of leaders who were on the yatra. But definitely there were some security lapses. An inquiry has already been ordered to fix the responsibility.’ He also wrote a letter to the state Governor claiming that nearly 800 securitymen were deputed for the Congress rally.
On the other hand, Minister of State for Home RPN Singh in an interview to a news channel conceded that there was a security lapse that resulted in the Chhattisgarh attack by the Naxals and alleged that standard operating procedures issued were not followed by the state police and anyone found guilty will not be spared. To BJP’s suspicions about a biased probe by the NIA, Singh said it was extremely unfortunate that the investigating agency was brought under suspicion by the opposition party. Singh denied the BJP’s claims that the central government was laying the blame at the state government’s doorstep and said they weren’t blaming anyone for now. NIA is likely to probe whether top Naxal leader Katakam Sudarshan was behind the attack.
On being asked about Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s absence, Singh refused to comment, but said Shinde was in constant touch with him as well as Raman Singh. ‘Shinde is in constant touch with the ministry and with me… he has been hands on… he will be back shortly,’ Singh said.
Shinde has been criticised by the opposition for not returning home with his ministry officials and extending his trip till 29 May. Shinde was also compared with David Cameron who had cut short his Paris visit after the Woolwich attack. Home ministry officials, however, said Shinde had scheduled his visit till 29 May from before.
Meanwhile, heads rolled in the Chhattisgarh police administration on Tuesday with the government suspending Bastar SP Mayank Shrivastava and shunting out Bastar range IGP Himanshu Gupta.Shrivastava has been attached to DGP office till further order and Gupta will now serve as IG, crime investigation department (CID).
Ajay Yadav will be new SP of Bastar district and Arun Deo Gautam IG, Bastar range.
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