Bastar IG SRP Kalluri to go on leave, Chhattisgarh govt appoints new DIG

The Chhattisgarh government has asked Bastar IG SRP Kalluri to go on leave citing ill-health as the reason behind the decision. According to ANI, Kalluri has been on leave for a month after undergoing a heart blockage surgery.

Meanwhile, CNN-News 18 reported that Kalluri, who has been facing allegations of violating human rights norms, was forced to go on leave and the state government appointed IPS officer P Sunder Raj as DIG Bastar. According to The Indian Express, the seven districts of Bastar would come under Sunder Raj.

[caption id=“attachment_3243654” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Bastar IG SRP Kalluri. News 18[/caption] Kalluri has been charged for threatening journalists and human rights activists in Bastar. He has been issued by the National Human Right Commission (NHRC) in cases of fake encounters and atrocities. In November last year, the NHRC had summoned Kalluri over alleged hostility and abuse of power against human rights defenders. The NHRC took suo motu cognisance of a “nationwide outcry and protest” against Kalluri over the FIR registered against Delhi University Professor Nandini Sundar, Jawaharlal Nehru University Professor Archana Prasad and others. “The media reports over the last week have alleged that the Chhattisgarh Police named Nandini Sundar and 10 others as accused in the murder of tribal Somnath Baghel in Sukma district. “It is reported that he was killed by Maoists as he had been leading a campaign against their activities since April. There is no apparent connection between murder and visit of these human rights activists and, therefore, it has been alleged that they have been framed in a mala fide manner by police to settle scores,” the NHRC statement had said. The commission also took note of Sundar’s petition in the Supreme Court against the alleged police atrocities on Bastar tribals by burning their homes. “The commission took suo motu cognisance of unprecedented acts of hostility and indiscipline by the Chhattisgarh Auxiliary Police in burning the effigies of Sundar and other lawyers and journalists as they were instrumental in exposing police deeds,” said the statement. “The NHRC is also of the view that since allegations are made against Kalluri, it would like to know from them why the investigation in the registered first information report should not be handed over to an independent agency like the Crime Branch, Crime Investigation Department or the Central Bureau of Investigation,” it added. (With inputs from IANS)