How did Jaswinder Singh die?

Oct 25, 2006, 14:02 GMT

Bhubaneswar, Oct 25 (IANS) The death of Orissa Deputy Inspector General of Police Jaswinder Singh continues to be clouded in mystery with many now even questioning the theory of 'accidental firing' by the security guards that was given out by police.

According to police, Singh's guards had confessed that he had died due to 'accidental firing' by them on crowds that had surrounded him demanding donation for local Kali Puja. But it is still not clear under what circumstances they had fired.

The story that was put out, quoting police officials, was that some villagers stopped Singh's vehicle and a scuffle ensued between them, and Singh and the guards. But a local TV channel Tuesday night showed footage of villagers saying that they had never obstructed the vehicle.

There are some questions that remain unanswered, said a retired senior police official Wednesday on condition he was not named.

If there was a scuffle between the guards and the people leading to the use of the pistol, then there must be some locals who would have sustained injuries too. But the police has not mentioned this, he said. 'It appears to be a mystery.'

Singh was killed near Laxmipur, 15 km from Rayagada district, Monday while he was going to Padampur town to brief newspersons about the achievements of the local police in tackling Maoist extremism.

Meanwhile, the Orissa government's flip-flop over his killing - first blaming Maoist rebels and later attributing it to 'accidental firing' by his security guards - has put its top security brass in poor light.

Within a few hours of the killing of Singh, the government blamed it on Maoists, creating panic all around. But, 20 hours later, they said he was killed by his guards.

However, the state government denies it has been at fault.

'It takes time to investigate,' state police chief Amarananda Patnaik told IANS.

'The incident took place in a Maoist-infested area and that is why we said the involvement of Maoists cannot be ruled out.'

Patnaik, who was sent to Laxmipur village near where Singh was killed, said: 'The government did not want to say anything hurriedly therefore it sent me to the spot.'

After the state government declared that it suspected Maoists in the crime, it intensified anti-Maoist operations in the area. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik even convened a top-level meeting in the state secretariat the same day and announced an ex-gratia of Rs.1 million to the family - an amount usually given when a top police official is killed fighting Maoists.

Patnaik wrote a letter to union Home Minister Shivraj Patil seeking more central assistance and two more battalions of paramilitary forces to combat Maoists in the state.

State police chief Patnaik even blamed the DIG for not taking adequate security measures.

However, the next day the story got changed after Patnaik visited the spot. On his return he did not explain in detail how the DIG was killed. He cited the guards and the driver to say that Singh was stopped by some people en-route to ask for donations for a local Kali Puja.

When one of the guards tried to disperse the crowds using his pistol it, according to Patnaik, went off 'accidentally' and the bullet hit Singh in the head.

Patnaik said the guards and the driver tried to pass off the incident as a Maoist attack. They fired two more rounds later to show that the vehicle had been riddled with bullet holes.

A bleeding Singh was then taken to the government hospital at Rayagada where doctors declared him dead.

Human rights activists are also decrying the flip-flop attitude of the government.

'When they did not have any information, they just wanted to manipulate the situation by shifting the blame on the Maoists,' leading state human rights activist Biswapriya Kanungo told IANS. 'When they learnt about the truth they wanted to suppress that.'

Police have registered a case under section 302 against the two guards that is done against persons who commits murder. But, they maintain the gun went off 'accidentally'.

The incident took place just 15 km from the district headquarter and local police learnt of the incident immediately. But it was not disclosed to the public or media till much later, he said.

'The incident shows the government's attitude and its non-functioning,' said Prafulla Samantray, former legislator and president of the Lok Sakti Abhiyan citizen's organisation.

'It is still not clear under what circumstances the guards shot him dead. How can top officials and the government be so irresponsible?' he asked.

Singh, a 1990 batch Indian Police Service officer, was from Hoshiarpur in Punjab. He had taken up his present assignment at Sunabeda recently.

© 2006 Indo-Asian News Service