HC-admonished Hathras DM gets ‘routine’ transfer to UP’s Mirzapur

MATHURA: The district magistrate (DM) of Hathras, Praveen Kumar Laxkar, whose controversial tenure oversaw the alleged gang-rape, murder and hasty cremation of a Dalit woman in the dead of the night on September 30, was on Thursday transferred to Mirzapur in the same capacity. It comes close to two months after the Allahabad high court expressed reservation over his continuance at the post, and about 27 days ahead of the next hearing.
After the court’s observations, the Uttar Pradesh government had said the state will not shift Laxkar “as the Opposition had politicised the issue and there was no case of slackness made out against him”.
Soon after news of the transfer became public, the victim’s younger brother told TOI that though the family was happy with the development, they would be happier had his services been terminated. “His behaviour will never change. And he will continue this way wherever he goes,” he said, adding that they can never forget the day his sister was forcibly cremated without their consent in gross violation of their fundamental rights. “We could not even see her face for the last time,” he said.
The woman, 19, was allegedly gang-raped by four upper caste men on September 14. She died on September 29 at Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital. And a few hours later, she was hastily cremated on the outskirts of her village amid heavy police deployment. Luxkar was at the centre of a row after a video of him purportedly issuing veiled threats to the woman’s father surfaced in October.
“Half of the media have left today, the rest will leave by tomorrow. Only we will be with you. It is up to you whether you want to change your statement or not,” Laxkar was purportedly heard telling the elderly man, who stood by his statement and withstood all pressure.
CBI, which later took over the probe from the UP Police, filed a charge-sheet accusing all the four men of gang-rape and murder of the woman, setting the stage for the trial.
Laxar has been replaced by Ramesh Ranjan, who was joint MD in UP Jal Nigam.
The high court, which had taken a suo motu cognizance of the “forcible cremation”, had asked the government’s additional chief secretary (home), Awanish Awasthi, if the decision to cremate the victim in the night was a collective one. "Then why was only the superintendent of police suspended while the district magistrate was allowed to continue," the court had asked.
The court had also asked the government if it was proper or fair to allow the DM to continue. On the last day of the year, several other IAS officers in UP were also transferred by the state government in a reshuffle.