Senior Superintendent of Police, Dhanbad, Aseem Vikrant Minz, suspended Santosh Kumar Jha, officer-in-charge of Baghmara police station, on charges of laxity of work and dereliction of duty. The suspended officer has been shunted to the police line.
Notably, a host of crime incidents took place in Baghmara, particularly clashes between rival groups at the different colliery sites. The violence had a connection with the war of attrition between the Baghmara MLA Dhullu Mahto and his arch-rival ‑ former water resources minister Jaleshwar Mahto.
Santosh Kumar Jha, officer-in-charge of Baghmara police station Gautam Dey
Talking to The Telegraph Online Dhanbad SSP, Aseem Vikrant confirmed the suspension of Baghmara’s officer-in-charge. He said, “He has been suspended on charges of laxity in work dereliction of duty and particularly concerning the violence that took place in front of attendance office block -2 office of BCCL in Bagmara yesterday.”
“The inspection conducted by senior officers revealed that the incident could have been avoided had the police stationed at the site had been better prepared,” added Minz.
Nirsa OC also suspended
In a related development, Dhanbad Deputy Commission, Uma Shankar Singh, recommended disciplinary action on Nirsa Police station officer-in-charge, Subhash Singh. The recommendation has been made by the DC, based on a probe conducted by a committee led by Additional District Magistrate (law and order) Chandan Kumar on the charges of forcible closure of 18 soft coke industries of Nirsa by Singh.
Notably, a delegation of soft coke industry owners met the DC. During the meet, they accused Nirsa officer-in-charge of not only forcibly closing their respective units but also for having lodged an FIR against one of the soft coke industry owners when he tried to reopen the factory after the relaxation provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
DC, Uma Shankar Singh, constituted a probe committee led by ADM (Law and Order) Chandan Kumar, which visited Nirsa and submitted a report to him on December 15.