New Delhi: A fact-finding probe into Jat stir has revealed that hundreds of Jat policemen had deserted their posts and rebelled against the system allowing protesters from their community to damage public property in Haryana.
According to a report in Indian Express, police force had ignored government orders and left the state to burn for several days. As many as 60-70 policemen belonging to Jat community in each district stayed away from their posts for almost a week.
The recent Jat reservation agitation, like other man-made disasters, caused tremendous damage to the innocent people and the state machineries. Nearly a dozen police posts and police stations in Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonipat and Gohana were damaged during the arson. The protest had also seen houses and shops being torched and at least two dozens of civilians deaths.
The fact-finding panel, led by Prakash Singh, a retired IPS officer and Padma Shri recipient, and comprising Additional Chief Secretary Vijai Vardhan and K P Singh (who became DGP, Haryana, last week), has prepared a list of such deserters, with their names, ranks, belt numbers, places of postings and the days for which they remained absent from their posts.
The state government and police department have not initiated any penal action against most of them. In its report, the panel is likely to recommended strict action against the cops who abandoned their posts.
The panel, during the course of its investigation, examined more than 3,000 witnesses and included their testimonies in the report likely to run into 350 to 400 pages.
Several DSPs told the panel that the constabulary refused to obey their orders and openly showed solidarity with their community members.
Victims of the violence also testified that policemen and officials from the Jat community did nothing while mobs attacked their shops, cars and homes.
The panel also investigated the role of government officials and workers in the damage caused to public and private property.
Recently, the Haryana government sought financial assistance of Rs 1,000 from National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) as compensation for people affected during the agitation. National Disaster Management Authority has been informed that in the month of February this year, substantial damage was caused to a large number of properties, both government and private, during the unrest.
