Days after the violence that rocked the otherwise peaceful Balodabazar town of Chhattisgarh over vandalism attempt on Jaitkham, a pious symbol associated with the Satnami community, the state government led by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has constituted a single member judicial inquiry commission to investigate the vandalism incident that unfolded on the intervening night of May 15-16 near Amar Gufa in Giraudpuri.
The commission will have retired judge of Bilaspur High Court, C B Vajpayee as its president who will investigate the vandalism incident on six points including the possible causes leading to the incident and the situation that unfolded aftermath.
According to the notification issued by the government on Thursday, June 13, the commission has been also assigned with the task to identify the perpetrators of the vandalism incident. For the work assigned, the commission has been provided with a time frame of three months to submit its report to the government.
Furthermore, the government in another administrative order issued on Thursday itself has suspended IPS Sadanand Kumar and IAS Kumar Lal Chauhan the then Superintendent of Police (Sp) and District Magistrate (DM) of Balodabazar-Bhatapara district who were in helm of affairs, when the agitators resorted to large scale arson and vandalism in Balodabazar town on Monday’s afternoon, June 10.
The suspension order of the officials has arrived on the heels of another order issued by the government linked to transfer of both Chauhan and Kumar on Tuesday night.
Vijay Agarwal, Superintendent of police of Surguja district was asked to take charge as the new Sp of the violence-hit Balodabazar-Bhatapara district replacing Kumar while IAS Deepak Soni was deputed as the district magistrate of the town replacing Chauhan as per the order issued by the state government on Tuesday.
Congress delegation visit Balodabazar town
Meanwhile a congress delegation comprising of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) Chief, Deepak Baij, former Chief Minister, Bhupesh Baghel, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the state assembly, Charan Das Mahant and other senior leaders of the party also visited the ground zero and took stock of the situation.
Interacting with the media before the visit, former CM, Bhupesh baghel also pointed fingers on the state of law and order. “It’s a failure of the government, it’s all happening due to failure of the state government, they are trying to daub it, they are making irrelevant statements, it’s probably a first such incident of its kind in the country where SP and Collector offices have been burnt,” said Baghel.
Notably, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has also constituted a five-member committee to look into the details of the incident that unfolded on June 10. The committee which has two incumbent ministers as its member has been tasked by the party to investigate the facts and submit a report within seven days.
This comes after Minister for health in state government, Shyam Bihari Jaiswal on Tuesday dropped hints about possible involvement of Congress workers behind the violence that erupted in the protest march called by the Satnami community.
Violence during the protest called by Satnami community
Notably, an agitated mob of protestors on June 10 set ablaze several government offices in joint collector office premises and dozens of vehicles stationed there by breaching the security installments over vandalism of the ‘Jaitkham’ in Mahkoni village of Giroudpuri.
The agitators who were earlier assembled in the Dusshera ground to mark their protest against the vandalism episode barged in the collector office premises after their agitation became uncontrollable on Monday afternoon.
The demonstrators also vandalized vehicles on their way to the collectorate, where they set ablaze around 30 four-wheelers parked in the premises. Dozens of two-wheelers stationed at the premises were also set on fire by the mob who also had a brief collision with the police personnel leaving dozens of them injured in the skirmish.
Later on, the state police, after taking control of the situation, launched a massive crackdown on the anti-social elements behind the violence, Further, the district administration had also issued prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to prevent any reoccurrence of violence.
According to the latest reports, more than 120 people have been so far detained in connection with the arson and vandalism in the town. A total of 8 FIRs have been registered by the police while a 21-member special team has also been constituted to further the investigation into the case.
Preliminary reports have also hinted about the possible involvements of certain groups who were instrumental behind the escalation of violence.
Other than the administrative measures taken by the state government, CM Vishnu Deo Sai has also interacted with the delegation of the Satnami community and assured that the culprits behind the violence will not be spared at any cost.
It is worth mentioning here that the state has a significant population of the Satnami community who follows the teaching of revered social reformer and spiritual awakener of medieval era, Guru Ghasidas Ji Maharaj.
