Ramanathapuram Superintendent of Police (SP) Varun Kumar has been removed from his posting and kept on reserve. That the move came just a day after he denied communal motives behind the murder of 23-year-old Arun Prakash, has created a flutter.
A transfer order was issued by the Tamil Nadu Home Department, issued on September 3. E Karthik IPS, who was the Deputy Commissioner of Police at the Flower Bazaar District in Greater Chennai will now take charge as SP of Ramanathapuram.Others shuffled include S Maheshwaran, who was SP of Railways in Chennai. He will now fill E Karthik’s posting.
According to sources from the AIADMK, the BJP was reportedly upset with Varun Kumar’s clarification denying communal motives to the murder. A BJP leader now based out of Delhi had allegedly expressed displeasure to the government, sources said.
Arun Prakash was murdered on August 31 by an armed gang of twelve men in Vasanth Nagar. While BJP leaders such as H Raja claimed the murder was committed by a gang of persons from a minority community for communal reasons, the Ramanathapuram police ruled it out, saying that personal enmity was the cause. Based on the investigations, the police said that Arun was part of a gang of men who were in a longstanding clash with another gang in the town. On the morning of August 31, the two gangs had a verbal argument that led to a physical altercation.
From his Twitter account, Varun Kumar had shared screenshots of Ramanathapuram District Police’s social media post and written that an impartial investigation would be done by the police. “The Police will do an impartial investigation and arrest all the suspects soon. Please do not believe rumors and fake news.” This post was accompanied by representational cartoon image of religious unity with Indian flag in the background.
The Police will do an impartial investigation and arrest all the suspects soon. Please do not believe rumors and fake news. pic.twitter.com/otaIHrp2ml
— Varun Kumar IPS (@VarunKumarIPSTN) September 2, 2020
Ramanathapuram District police handle had written in Tamil that the murder was a result of gang rivalry and that some have been trying to add communal colours to the case. “Those involved in this murder come from different religious faiths. This case does not have any communal issues. Do not believe in rumours. This was entirely based on personal vendetta. The police department has formed three special task forces to nab the accused.”
According to the transfer order issued on Thursday, Pravesh Kumar who was SP of Vellore has been moved to take charge as SP of Railways in Chennai and S Selvakumar who was Deputy Commissioner of Police in Tiruppur City will now take charge as SP of Vellore.