IPS Officer Rahul Kumar transferred days after foiling riot plot in Ratlam, booking Hindutva leaders
Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh): In a controversial development, IPS officer Rahul Kumar Lodha, who successfully prevented a communal riot in Ratlam on September 7 and booked 13 leaders from right-wing groups, was transferred within two days of the incident.
The attempted unrest began when right-wing groups in Ratlam spread rumors of stone-pelting on a Ganesh idol during a procession. In response, the group raised provocative slogans outside a police station, pelted stones at the police, and later targeted Muslim neighborhoods. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rahul Lodha acted to prevent the situation from escalating further, registering cases against 13 leaders involved in the incident, including several with criminal histories.
While the police were quick to intervene and control the situation, some members of the group who had participated in the Ganesh procession gathered at the police station, demanding that an FIR be registered. The mob became violent, vandalizing vehicles and shops in the Hathikhan area, prompting the police to use force to disperse them. Following this, the police registered a case against unidentified individuals, which included the name of Jalaj Sakhla, the district vice president of the BJP Yuva Morcha.
Hindu organizations, expressing dissatisfaction with the police action, submitted a memorandum protesting the booking of their leaders while criticizing the police for not identifying the alleged stone pelters. They warned of further agitation if the authorities failed to act against those responsible for the initial stone pelting within 24 hours.
Later that night, around midnight, in a sudden administrative reshuffle, SP Rahul Lodha was transferred from his post in Ratlam to SP Rail, Bhopal. Narsinghpur SP Amit Kumar was appointed as the new SP of Ratlam. Lodha’s transfer has sparked outrage among many citizens, with netizens praising his efforts to prevent communal violence and suggesting that his removal was politically motivated.
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Railway lines as fence could cut cost of barricading to curb man-elephant conflicts: MP Wadiyar
Bengaluru, Sept 17: MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar has suggested that to bring down the exorbitant cost barricading – estimated to cost around Rs 1.3 to Rs 1.5 crore per kilometre – railway lines could be used to construct fences on Tuesday.
Wadiyar took to X to share the letter he had sent to Union Environment Forest & Climate Change Minister Bhupendra Yadav.
Stating that “railway (lines) barricading” is proving to be an effective way to restrict the movement of elephants, he suggested that this should be taken up on a large scale.
“Upon consultation with the relevant authorities, it has come to my understanding that the cost of barricading per kilometre comes to Rs 1.3 crore to Rs 1.5 crore. Given that the border of the forests in my constituency stretches to over 400 km, with around 280 km of forest border requiring immediate barricading, the cost of such an exercise will reach Rs 350 crore to Rs 400 crore,” he wrote in his letter.
He said the environment ministry could make a direct request with the railway ministry for an allocation of railway lines, thus reducing the cost of the project to just that of labour cost.
“The benefits of this initiative are manifold, from reduction of human casualties, protection of property and livelihood, to conservation of elephants and, most importantly, promoting human-elephant coexistence, which is the need of the hour,” he added.
Working towards safer coexistence in Mysore-Kodagu! Submitted proposal to Union Environment Forest & Climate change Minister Shri Bhupendra Yadav Ji for railway barricading to reduce elephant-human conflicts. pic.twitter.com/VjOWIF1TTC
— Yaduveer Wadiyar (@yaduveerwadiyar) September 17, 2024
