Hours after the BJP government in Haryana transferred Gurugram police commissioner Kala Ramachandran, she told Newslaundry it was a “routine” transfer and not linked to an FIR registered against an editor of right-wing propaganda channel Sudarshan News.
“I’ve spent over one and a half years here,” said Ramachandran, a 1994 Haryana cadre IPS officer, on Monday. “It’s routine.”
When asked if the transfer was linked to the FIR against editor Mukesh Kumar, Ramachandran said, “Nope. I think that’s far-fetched.”
Ramachandran was among 20 IPS officers reshuffled yesterday in Haryana. She is now the additional director general of police (administration) while Vikas Arora takes over as Gurugram police commissioner.
FIR against Sudarshan
On August 9, the Gurugram police registered an FIR against Mukesh Kumar for allegedly spreading fake news and promoting enmity between religions.
A day before, Kumar had claimed on Twitter that “Hindu activists” had been picked up by the Gurugram police as Ramachandran was purportedly under pressure from Al Jazeera over the communal violence in Nuh. Kumar later deleted the tweet.
Sequence of events:
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) August 11, 2023
1. Sudarshan News' resident editor Mukesh Kumar @mukeshkrd claimed that Gurugram police acted against 'Hindu activists' due to pressure from Al Jazeera news channel.
2. @gurgaonpolice Filed an FIR against him for falsely claiming that they were under… pic.twitter.com/sViinwWtFO
The police said this was, unsurprisingly, fake news and booked Kumar under sections 153(B) (religious enmity), 469 (forgery), 501 (defamation) and 505 (rumour mongering) of the Indian Penal Code, and section 66C (identity theft) of the Information Technology Act. He was arrested two days later by the cybercrime wing.
The hashtag #ReleaseMukeshKumar then ran on Twitter, now X, by right-wing accounts until Kumar got bail. Sudarshan News called it an “attack on press freedom”.
On August 19, the Haryana government had transferred 16 IAS officers, including Rewari deputy commissioner Mohammed Imran Raza. He had issued several notices to sarpanches and panchayat members for banning the entry of Muslims in villages after the Nuh communal violence.
Newslaundry had reported in detail on the violence in Haryana in early August. Watch this video on how Muslim families were forced to flee:
Soon after, the administration demolished over 750 structures, erasing hundreds of people’s homes and shops. Most of them were Muslim. Watch our video report here.
Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.
