MUMBAI: Five months after he was sent on compulsory
leave following the
Palghar lynching, then
Palghar district superintendent of
police (SP) Gaurav Singh has got a new posting. The state home department
appointed him as SP of Maharashtra Police Academy, Nashik.
Singh was told to proceed on leave on May 8, after state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) took over investigations from Kasa police.
Two seers and their driver were killed by a mob during lockdown on the night of April 16. Kasa police, under whose jurisdiction the crime took place, were criticised for mishandling the lynching case. Videos of policemen handing over the seers to the mob to be lynched had gone viral.
Singh had suspended two officers who were part of the investigations. But as pressure mounted on the state to take action against the cops, Singh was sent on leave. An online petition was undertaken to get back Singh, who was replaced by Dattatray Shinde.
The state later dismissed a cop, slapped compulsory retirement on two policemen and 15 constables were penalized for dereliction of duty in the case.
The state, in a reply to the Supreme Court to a petition seeking handing over of the case to a central agency, had last Wednesday mentioned that no dereliction of duty was found from Singh’s side. He had reached the spot after the crime and took action against the officers, the apex court was told.
In an October 14 order the state rolled out orders of 23 IAS and IPS officers, including Singh.