Chhattisgarh police demands money spent on last rites from martyr family

Raipur: In a bizarre incident, Chhattisgarh Police has asked family of a police personnel to pay Rs 10,000 for performing last rites of the jawan, who was killed while fighting naxals.

Taking stern view of the incident, state Chief Minister Raman Singh immediately has ordered suspension of the official, who had issued the notice, and also sought explanation from Gariaband District's Superintendent of Police.

Kishore Pandey, a special police officer, was killed in a naxal attack in May 2011. A sum of Rs 10,000 was then spent on his last rites from the police welfare fund. The state police force had in June last year first raised the demand against the amount spent by it. Further, a notice was sent on Sunday seeking immediate refund of the amount.

It is to mention that your brother Kishore Pandey was martyred in a naxal attack on May 23, 2011. An advance of Rs 10,000 was immediately made for his last rites from non-government welfare fund, as per the notice sent to Kaushal Pandey.

This department had earlier sought the amount in a letter written in June last year, which was followed by a reminder on April 12. The fresh notice asked the family members to return the money to the state exchequer immediately.

Meanwhile, senior police officials have cancelled the notice after the matter came to light. Chhattisgarh Additional Director General of Police (Anti-Naxal Operations) R K Vij told PTI today that the notice has been cancelled and that he has sought more information in the matter.

The main opposition Congress in Chhattisgarh as termed the notice as an "insult of the martyrs." The government has the "habit of insulting" the martyrs, state's Congress Unit Spokesman Shailesh Nitin Trivedi alleged.

Earlier, there was an attempt to provide employment to the family members of former state Congress chief Nandkumar Patel and former Leader of Opposition Mahendra Karma, both of whom were killed in Naxal attacks, on class IV posts. There have also been incidents of transporting the bodies of deceased security personnel in garbage van and dumping their uniforms, he further alleged.

Trivedi said that according to police officials, the family members of security personnel killed in the Gariaband Naxal attack were given a compensation of Rs five lakh and also provided employment. However, issuing such a notice to the family which has lost his son is an insult to the martyr, he alleged.