CRPF IG who had asked for probe into a ‘fake encounter’ receives transfer orders

Rajnish Rai, Inspector General (IG) of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), who had written to CRPF headquarters asking for a probe into an allegedly staged encounter by security forces in Assam’s Chirang district, has been transferred from his post out of the North East. Rai, who was formerly posted in Shillong as IG, North East sector, was ordered on Tuesday to join the Counter Insurgency and Anti Terrorism (CIAT) School of the CRPF at Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, the Indian Express reported.

In his report to the HQ, Rai had claimed that the killing of two suspected members of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit), or NDFB(S) faction, on March 30 was made to appear like a legitimate encounter. In reality, Rai alleged that the two men were picked up from a house in D-Kalling village and killed in cold blood in Simlaguri village under Amguri police station. Subsequently, weapons were planted on their bodies, according to Rai. To support his claims, Rai cited GPS records of a CRPF unit and witnesses who identified the two slain men as those picked up by the security forces from D-Kalling village the same night. The Home Ministry has agreed to probe into these allegations.

Rai received his transfer orders on Tuesday which states that IPS officer Prakash D, who was appointed as IG (Communication & IT) and slated to take up his post on the same day, would be given additional charge of Rai’s post. The transfer order, dated June 12 (Monday), stated that the transfer of charge must occur immediately.