Activists have demanded that the transfer of S.R.P. Kalluri as the Inspector-General of Police of Bastar range in June be revoked as his earlier tenure as Senior Superintendent of Police in the area in Dantewada district was marred by attacks on three villages and Swami Agnivesh, social activist.
“Between March 11 and 16, 2011, the security forces committed arson, rapes and murders at Tarmetla, Timmapuram and Morpalli, in which Mr. Kalluri is one of the accused. His presence in Bastar jeopardises the fairness and objectivity of the two inquiries into the attacks,” alleges Swami Agnivesh, who recently deposed before a commission holding an inquiry.
Swami Agnivesh blames Mr. Kalluri for the attack on his convoy near Dornapal town while trying to fetch food to the affected villages.
“Mr. Kalluri was the mastermind behind the attack on me. There are inquires going on against him, but instead of being taken to task, he has been rewarded,” he told The Hindu . Mr. Kalluri was transferred from Bastar to facilitate an independent inquiry, says Sudha Bharadwaj, general secretary of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties. As inquiries by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the commission are pending, he should not have been posted back in Bastar, she adds.
Mr. Kalluri refused to comment on the allegations, saying the matter was sub judice .
Director-General of Police, Chhattisgarh, A.N. Upadhay too said it would be “inappropriate” to comment on the allegations while inquires were going on. The transfer was an administrative decision of the State government.
“Except the attack on three villages, Mr. Kalluri faces no other charges. All other cases have been quashed, even the case in which he was accused of rape. The alleged victim herself gave an affidavit in the court that she was pressured by a lawyer to level the allegations,” the former Director-General of Police Vishvaranjan said.
“Kalluri is a brave officer known for his heroics on the anti-Naxal front. But I won’t be surprised if people go to court against his posting.”
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