The governor asked why police officials were not wearing protective gear in Ranchi violence
Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais on Monday summoned DGP Neeraj Sinha and other senior officials at Raj Bhavan and when they met him, he raised questions as to why preventive measures or action to disperse the crowd were not taken during the recent violent protests in Ranchi that claimed two lives and left over two dozen people injured.
The director general of police informed Mr Bais that as per an Intelligence Bureau (IB) report, a turnout of only 150 people was expected during the June 10 protest in the state capital over controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad by now suspended BJP spokespersons. However, thousands of people had taken part in the violent protest.
"Why didn't you use water cannon, rubber bullets and tear gas. There was no provision for these things there. Why?" Governor Ramesh Bais asked the senior police and administrative officials, an official statement from Raj Bhavan said.
"What information did the administration have about the proposed event, picketing, demonstration, procession and what arrangements you had made. You have IB, CID and what inputs did the special branch give? How many security personnel and magistrates were present there during the operation of the procession? Why didn't you take any preventive action?" it added.
Ranchi Senior Superintendent of Police Surendra Kumar Jha and Deputy Commissioner Chhavi Ranjan were among the officials asked to meet the governor on Monday.
The governor asked why police officers and personnel were not even wearing helmets and protective gear.
"How many arrests have been made so far? How many FIRs have been registered? Find out details of all protestors and those who have been caught, make their names/addresses public, make their hoardings by displaying their photographs at main places in the city so that public could also identify them and help police," the governor told the officials.
He also demanded to know whether the police have identified people spreading rumours on social media and whether any action has been taken to punish them.
"All such people need to be identified and punished," Governor Ramesh Bais said.
Drawing the DGP's attention to recent incidents of crime in the state, the Governor sought to know as to what action has been taken over the recent burning to death of a rape accused by a mob in Gumla or the murder of a jeweller in Ranchi.
Two men accused of raping a girl were beaten up and set on fire by villagers in Jharkhand's Gumla district on June 8, leaving one dead and the other seriously injured.
The Governor asked the DGP and the other senior officials to also make available the action taken report on the killing of three persons in the industrial town of Adityapur in Seraikela-Kharswan district and the murder of a person named Manpreet in adjoining Jamshedpur.
The governor has asked for the information "at the earliest".
Jharkhand High Court on June 9 had initiated a suo motu public interest litigation on the killing of Manpreet, a witness in a criminal case, and had directed the state to inform whether it has a witness protection policy.
After the violent protests in Ranchi, security has been tightened in sensitive areas and 25 FIRs have been registered against "thousands" of people.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)