Prince Garg, a head constable of the Madhya Pradesh Police, died on Friday, nearly two weeks after a man shot him inside a police station in Satna. Garg is the second police personnel in the State to have allegedly been murdered in the last two months. In March, Assistant Sub-Inspector Ramcharan Gautam was allegedly lynched to death when a police team, which was on a mission to rescue a man held hostage by members of a tribal community, came under attack in Mauganj. The hostage was killed too.
Apart from Garg and Gautam, nearly 10 incidents of attacks on police personnel or a team have been reported in the State in recent months, including in Indore and Bhopal. In Indore, in February, a group of men assaulted and attempted to kidnap a uniform-clad Sub-Inspector during night patrolling. Similarly, last month, Nazar Daulat Khan, a constable of the Government Railway Police, was thrashed by drunken men at Bhopal’s Rani Kamlapati railway station at night when he questioned them about drinking in the parking area. The accused also allegedly commented on his religious identity. The incident took place just days after the terror attack in Pahalgam. The charges for alleged communal slurs were only added to the FIR two days later.
Videos of both these incidents went viral on social media. Netizens raised concerns over the vulnerability of police personnel, while the Opposition slammed the ruling BJP over the “boosted morales” of criminals. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, who holds the Home portfolio, has been under fire from the Congress, which has only intensified its demand that he relinquish the portfolio.
While junior or on-field officers have been the targets of angry mobs, multiple senior officers, including Superintendents of Police (SP), have faced sudden transfers, soon after incidents of communal violence broke out in their respective jurisdiction areas. Recently, Guna SP Sanjeev Sinha was transferred to the police headquarters less than a week after two groups clashed in the city during a Hanuman Jayanti procession on April 13. While the police arrested several Muslims over the next 24 hours, two FIRs were filed in the following days against members of local right-wing outfits, including BJP councillor Omprakash Kushwah, who was one of the organisers. After the clashes, Mr. Sinha had said on record that the procession had been taken out “forcibly and without permission” and that “sloganeering was done in front of a religious place of another community”.
Last September, Ratlam SP Rahul Lodha was shunted out overnight, after members of the BJP and some right-wing outfits accused him of “biased action” following alleged stone pelting at a Ganesh Chaturthi procession. Mr. Lodha had refuted the claims that idols had been damaged in the incident. The police had also lathi-charged some right-wing activists and booked about 200 people for vandalism during protests at a police station.
At least three senior police officers The Hindu spoke to exposed multiple fault lines in the overall policing in the State. A senior officer in Ujjain Division says both the police and the government are responsible for the public anger seen in the past few months. “The police remain complacent in containing a situation involving a crowd until it turns violent. You have to deal with a crowd before it turns into a mob and herd mentality takes over,” the officer argues.
A retired IPS officer says there is “increasing political pressure” in dealing with cases and claims that this puts “double pressure” on officers. “It’s difficult to act in a sensitive matter without offending someone, be it a local politician or a religious figure in the area,” he says, while also slamming the “postings recommended by politicians” in their areas.
While political intervention has long dented the image of the police in the State, attacks in public view cause humiliation and lead to lower morale levels among the police, making them look vulnerable in front of crowds.
The retired officer also calls for an increased focus on core policing and training over “being busy with VIP arrangements”. “The police are not trained to deal with large mobs or even a group of charged up men,” he adds.
He says the image of the police was never great but has only worsened in the past one year. “People in rural areas avoid visiting a police station because of the way they are treated,” he says.
Published – May 12, 2025 01:41 am IST