The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday, May 17, constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incidents of poll violence. The SIT, headed by senior IPS officer Vineet Brij Lal, will review the investigation of violence on poll day and in the post-poll period and submit a report on action taken to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The order forming the SIT was issued by the Director General of Police (DGP) Harish Kumar Gupta who along with Chief Secretary (CS) KS Jawahar Reddy. The DGP and CS had appeared before Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Thursday, May 16 after the ECI had summoned the top officials seeking an explanation for the administration’s failure to contain poll violence.
Read: ECI summons Andhra Chief Secretary and DGP over poll violence
The SIT also includes 13 police officers from various departments. In addition, the state government directed the SIT to supervise the ongoing investigation and recommend additional appropriate sections of law or fresh FIRs whenever needed. The SIT should submit a compliance report within two days to the ECI, as per the order.
Several incidents of violence were reported in Anantapur, Palnadu, and Tirupati districts during polling on May 13 and on subsequent days. Incidents were also reported before the poll, involving assault, arson, threats, damage to campaign vehicles, stone pelting, etc. Few incidents were also reported in Annamaya, Chittoor, Guntur, and Nandyal districts. EVM’s were also damaged in nine places according to Mukesh Kumar Meena, Chief Electoral Officer of state election commission
Meanwhile, the Election Commission cracked the whip on 16 officials based on a report submitted by the Chief Secretary and DGP. It suspended Palnadu Superintendent of Police (SP) Garikapati Bindu Madhav and Anantapur SP Amit Bardar. The Commission also ordered the transfer of Palnadu district collector Siva Sankar Lotheti and Tirupati SP Krishnakanth Patel. Departmental enquiry will also be initiated against these officials.
Read:Andhra post-poll violence: Palnadu Collector, Tirupati SP transferred
Bindu Madhav had taken charge as Palnadu SP a month ago after the Election Commission transferred Y Ravi Shankar Reddy. Krishnakanth Patel too had taken charge as Tirupati SP two months ago.
The state government, in its report to the Election Commission, stated that these officials failed to prevent violence despite its apprehension. It said that the officials failed to take adequate precautionary measures despite the history of political violence in these districts.
The Election Commission also approved the suspension of 12 subordinate police officials in the Palnadu, Anantapur, and Tirupati districts. The suspended officers in Tirupati districts are Tirupati DSP A Surender Reddy, Special Branch Inspector K Rajashekhar, Special Branch DSP Bhaskar Reddy, and Alipiri Inspector Ramachandra Reddy.
In Palnadu district, the Commission has suspended Narasaraopet DSP VSN Varma, Gurazala DSP A Pallapu Raju, Inspectors K Prabhakar Rao, E Bala Nagi Reddy, Karempudi SI Ramanjaneyulu, and Nagarjuna Sagar SI DV Kondareddy. Those suspended in Anantapur district are Tadipatri DSP CM Gangaiah and Tadipatri Inspector Murali Krishna.
The Election Commission directed the Chief Secretary and the DGP to ensure that such violence is not repeated and to task all SPs to take preemptive measures to avoid such a situation in future.
Based on the request from the state government, the ECI decided to direct the Ministry of Home Affairs to retain the 25 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in Andhra Pradesh for 15 days after counting to control any possible violence after the declaration of results.
With inputs from IANS