The Madhya Pradesh government on Wednesday transferred Ratlam Superintendent of Police Rahul Kumar Lodha, days after stones were allegedly thrown at a religious procession in the district during the Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, The Indian Express reported.
The incident took place in Ratlam’s Mochipura area on September 7 when a group was carrying an idol of Hindu deity Ganesh.
Earlier on Tuesday, Hindutva organisation Samast Hindu Samaj Ratlam submitted an application to the district collector alleging that the police had hurt religious sentiments, The Print reported.
“When the procession was passing through Mochipura on 7 September evening, members of the Muslim community pelted stones at those conducting the procession,” the organisation claimed. “But when procession members reached the Station Road police station to file a complaint, their case was not registered.”
The organisation sought an independent inquiry and action in the matter within 24 hours, and warned of protests if the demands were not met.
Hours after the application was submitted, the state home department said that Lodha was transferred to Bhopal, where he would take charge of the railways department.
He was replaced by Amit Kumar, the former superintendent of police of Narsinghpur.
Lodha said that he viewed this as “a routine transfer”, according to The Indian Express.
After the incident on September 7, nearly 500 persons had gathered at the Station Road police station and demanded action against the individuals who threw the stones.
When the police went to the site of the incident to investigate, the crowd followed and someone threw a stone again, the newspaper had quoted an unidentified officer as saying on September 9.
Following this, the crowd started throwing stones, during which the glass of a police vehicle also broke. The police had to use force to disperse the crowd.
Subsequently, a first information report was registered against unknown persons in connection with the case.
At a press conference on September 8, Lodha said that rumours must not be believed. “No idol was damaged in any manner,” he said. “There are photographs and videos. The police had visited [the incident site] and checked.”
The police were probing if stones were thrown at the procession and if someone was injured due to it, he said. “If this is established, necessary action will be taken,” Lodha added.
In the application on Tuesday, the Samast Hindu Samaj Ratlam accused the police of “not believing” their claims despite videos of the incident being available. “No member of the Muslim community was booked in the case,” the organisation said.
The state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party also accused Lodha of bias in dealing with the communal tensions in Ratlam and demanded action against him.
Pradeep Upadhyay, the BJP’s district chief, said that his workers protested against Lodha as he conducted a biased investigation against leaders of Hindu groups. “Our main issue was that SP [superintendent of police] Lodha had claimed that Hindu groups resorted to stone pelting and that was the main cause of communal tension and riot-like situation in Ratlam,” Upadhyay told the newspaper.
The BJP leader claimed that the law and order situation in the district broke down after the police failed to register an FIR promptly.
“We had no issue with the lathi charge,” The Indian Express quoted him as saying. “But later in the night, the police picked up Hindu organisation leaders, including the head of a Bal Vibhag, and brutally assaulted them in police custody.”
However, an unidentified senior police officer denied Upadhyay’s claim, according to the newspaper.
“Another FIR [first information report] was registered against 13 named people and around 500 unknown persons,” the officer said. “Some of them were detained for questioning.”
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