Karnal: The Haryana government late on Thursday transferred 29 IPS officers and an HPS officer, including Karnal Range inspector general (IG) Ashok Kumar and superintendent of police (SP) Narender Bijarniya.
The crisis began with the daylight murder of Veeru Valmiki by two motorcycle-borne men in Karnal on August 5, following an alleged social media confrontation with a gangster. Hours later, during the midnight of August 7, Harsh, a resident of Kala Majra village in Karnal and a Ror community youth, and Birbal, from Matarwa Kheri village of Kaithal, were killed in a police encounter near Goghripur village. On August 30, MLA Anand apologised to the Ror community for his statements after Union minister and Karnal MP Manohar Lal Khattar intervened to resolve the deadlock.
The Karnal reshuffle is being seen as the direct fallout of a double encounter killing last month. The murder triggered anger among members of the Valmiki community and his family, who staged a protest the following day and refused to lift his body while demanding action against those responsible. Police claimed that the two were connected to Veeru’s murder. However, the Ror community dubbed the encounter as fake and questioned the circumstances surrounding the entire case. They demanded a high-level probe by the CBI, an apology from Karnal BJP MLA Jagmohan Anand for his controversial statements, and transfer and disciplinary action against the police personnel responsible. Khattar also spoke with outgoing Bijarniya multiple times during his two-day visit to Karnal last weekend. they continued to demand a CBI probe and immediate action against the involved officers While the community welcomed the MLA’s apology.
