Ayush Sinha, IAS officer at the centre of controversy in the recent baton charge on protesting farmers in Haryana’s Karnal , was on Wednesday transferred.
The Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) was posted as Additional Secretary, Haryana Citizen Resource Information Department, in Chandigarh. The 2018 batch officer was among 19 IAS officers transferred.
Mr. Sinha was seen in a purported video asking the police force to “smash the heads” of the protesters. Chief Minister Manohar Lal said the choice of words of Mr. Sinha was not appropriate but that “if anyone takes law and order into their hands, then certainly the police have a role to play”.
Last week, the Haryana police resorted to baton charge on a group of farmers protesting against the visit of Chief Minister Manohar Lal and other BJP leaders in Karnal — the Assembly constituency of the Chief Minister.
Leaders of the BJP and its coalition partner Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) have been facing farmers’ backlash on the Centre’s farm laws during the past few months.
