Police should have shot at legs'
Justice Jain observed that no evidence could be found to support the claim that the mob had fired at police.
Bhopal: A judicial panel has faulted Madhya Pradesh police for not following the standard protocol at the time of opening fire at protesting farmers in Mandsaur last year and leaving six of them dead. The report, however, did not fix responsibility on any indivisuals for the deaths.
“Bullets should have been fired targeting the legs of the violent protesters,” said the 13-page probe report submitted by the one-man commission headed by retired MP high court judge Justice J.K. Jain.
The Jain Commission did not blame anybody directly for the incident, sparing then collector Swatantra Kumar Singh and SP O.P. Tripathi.
The report attributed the incident to intelligence failure as well as lapses by the local administration.
The panel was set up to probe into violence during last year’s farmers’ agitation which caused loss of property worth Rs 25 crore, besides the death of six farmers in police firing. The report is likely to be placed in the Monsoon Session of the Assembly commencing on June 25.
The Congress slammed the report wondering why accountability was not fixed on police personnel responsible for the incident. “We will review the commission report and may move the court to challenge it”, said MP Congress vice-president Raja Pateria.
The report said that an enraged mob of around 1,500 to 2,000 attacked the Pipliyamandi police station on June 6, 2017, and threatened to burn it down after killing all policemen. Tear gas shells and lathicharge failed to quell the agitators, forcing the police to open fire.
Justice Jain observed that no evidence could be found to support the claim that the mob had fired at police.