With the BJP accusing him of bias in dealing with communal tension and demanding action against him, the Superintendent of Police in Madhya Pradesh’s Ratlam, Rahul Kumar Lodha, has been transferred. The action comes days after allegations that a Ganesh Chaturthi festival pandal was pelted with stones in the district – Lodha had at the time said no idol was destroyed in the incident.
The Home Department transferred Lodha from the post of SP Ratlam to Bhopal, where he will be in charge of the Rail department, as per a circular released on September 10. The former Narsinghpur SP Amit Kumar will take charge in his place.
Lodha, when contacted by The Indian Express, said that he “read this as a routine transfer”.
Right-wing outfits in Ratlam had been demanding action against Lodha, and had written letters to the district collector in this regard. Ratlam district BJP president Pradeep Upadhyay told The Indian Express, “We had protested against the SP since he conducted a biased investigation against Hindu organisation leaders. Our main issue was that SP Lodha had claimed that Hindu groups resorted to stone pelting and that was the main cause of communal tension and riot-like situation in Ratlam.”
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.
