Pune (PTI): Former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Vijay Raman, who had led the operation in which athlete-turned-dacoit Paan Singh Tomar was killed, died here following an illness, said family sources.
He was 72 and battling cancer for the past few months, they said.
After retiring in 2011, he had settled down in Pune. He is survived by his wife and a son.
Raman, a 1975-batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, was the Superintendent of Police of Bhind district in 1981. On October 1, 1981, he led a police team in an operation which ended in Paan Singh Tomar's death in an encounter.
Raman's last posting was as special Director General of the CRPF.
He also led several anti-terrorist and anti-naxal operations.
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Bengaluru, Aug 14 (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday said there was a “conspiracy” to tarnish the image of Dharmasthala.
His comments come amid an ongoing investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into serious allegations of mass burials in the revered temple town in Dakshina Kannada district.
“A conspiracy is being hatched to destroy hundreds of years of legacy. It is not correct to tarnish someone just like that. It has all happened due to one complainant,” he said.
Noting that some Congress MLAs have called for action against those involved in the slander campaign at the legislature party meeting, he said, “ I have told them that action must be taken against those who are indulging in a slander campaign. The CM has also said that action must be taken against such people.”
“I have information on this case. Religious feelings should not be hurt in any manner. Culprits must be punished,” he told reporters, according to a release from his office.
Responding to a question, Shivakumar said the Congress party will not allow the image of any religious place to be tarnished.
“We see everyone equally when it comes to religion,” he added.
The SIT, formed by the state government, is probing claims of mass murder, rape, and mass burials in Dharmasthala over the past two decades.
The complainant, a former sanitation worker whose identity has not been revealed, alleged that between 1995 and 2014 he was forced to handle bodies—including women and minors—and that some showed signs of sexual assault. He has given a statement before a magistrate.
As part of the probe, the SIT has been conducting exhumations at multiple locations identified by the complainant-witness in the forested areas along the banks of the Netravathi River in Dharmasthala, where some skeletal remains have been found at two sites so far.