Gurugram: For weeks, members of the Ror community sat on protest, refusing to let go of their demand. Two young men, Harsh and Beerbal, had been killed in police encounters on 5 August after the murder of one Beeru Valmiki in Karnal. The community called it fake. Harsh was a Ror, and his family wanted accountability, not condolences.
Late on Thursday night, the Haryana government moved. In a sweeping reshuffle ordered by the home department past midnight, the state transferred 29 Indian Police Service (IPS) officers and one Haryana Police Service (HPS) officer, with immediate effect. In the list are the Karnal Inspector General (IG) and Superintendent of Police, the two officers the Ror community had been demanding action against.
IG Ashok Kumar, who headed the Karnal range when the encounters took place, has been moved to the Police Training Centre, Sunaria, as IGP. SP Narendra Bijarniya, who led the district police during the encounters, has been sent to the State Task Force (STF) as SP.
Interestingly, Bijarniya faces an FIR registered by Chandigarh Police in connection with the suicide of Y Puran Kumar, a senior IPS officer of the Haryana Police.
Bijarniya was SP Rohtak when an FIR was lodged on 6 October against Sushil Kumar, the personal gunman of Puran Kumar. The case registered under Bijarniya’s supervision was cited by Puran Kumar’s wife, Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Amneet P. Kumar, as the trigger for her husband’s death by suicide two days later.
In their place, the government has brought in Ashvin Shenvi, a 2006-batch IPS officer, as the new IG of Karnal range. Ashvin returns to the Haryana cadre after nearly six years with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), where he rose to joint director before this posting. He also gets additional charge of IGP, Haryana Armed Police (HAP), Madhuban.
Karnal’s SP charge goes to Karan Goyal, a 2025-batch IPS officer who was until now Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) in Gurugram.
Also Read: Two funerals, one word: How ‘encounter’ is Haryana’s new currency of grief and justice
New SPs in five districts
Beyond Karnal, the order changes the SP in four other districts. Deepti Garg, previously DCP Jhajjar, is now SP Panipat. Mayank Mishra, previously DCP/Bahadurgarh in Jhajjar, becomes SP Bhiwani. Medha Bhushan moves from DCP (East), Sonipat, to SP Palwal. Frabina P, who was DCP Manesar with additional charge of 4th IRB Commandant, becomes SP Narnaul.
The Bhiwani change carries its own backstory. Sumit Kumar had been posted as SP Bhiwani during the uproar over the death of a woman teacher, Manisha, a case that drew sustained public pressure and a CBI probe. With the CBI’s closure report now filed, Sumit Kumar has been moved to the STF as SP.
The reshuffle also touches senior Additional DGP-rank postings. Amitabh Singh Dhillon (1997 batch) and Vikas Arora (1998 batch) have swapped charges at police headquarters in Panchkula, with Dhillon taking over Modernization & Welfare, Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) and Traffic & Highways, while Arora moves to Administration, Cyber, Telecom, IT and the State Crime Records Bureau.
Several SP-rank officers have been posted against long-vacant positions in specialised units. Lokender Singh has been made SP (Security), CID-1, with additional charge of SP, Anti-Terrorism Squad, and SP, Commando, Newal. Bhupinder Singh becomes SP (Security), CID. Rajesh Kumar has been posted SP, Community Policing and Outreach & Scrutiny, in Gurugram.
Upasana and Varun Singla have both been made SP, CID, with additional charge of SP, Anti-Terrorism Squad.
Virender Sangwan, who was awaiting posting, has been made SP, State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. In Gurugram, the post of DCP (Crime) goes to Nitish Agarwal, relieving HPS officer Hitesh Yadav of the additional charge.
In Sonipat, Ayush Yadav becomes DCP (East) with additional charge of SP, Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau. Faisal Khan has been posted DCP Jhajjar.
Four newly-inducted 2024-batch IPS probationers, Ravinder Kumar, Shivam, Vaishakh Bagee and, from the 2023 batch, Deepika Aggarwal, have been given their first postings as Assistant Superintendents of Police in Karnal, Ambala, Rohtak and Rewari respectively, after completing the second phase of their basic training at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy.
Vijay Kumar takes over as Commandant, 2nd IRB, Bhondsi, relieving Dharambir Singh, who has been deputed to the SIT probing the Manipur violence. Tanya Singh, on induction into the IPS, becomes Commandant, 1st Battalion HAP, Ambala City.
The order was issued by Sudhir Rajpal, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Government of Haryana.
The Karnal changes come months after ThePrint reported on the twin funerals of Harsh and Beerbal, which had examined how “encounter” had become a contested word in Haryana’s politics of justice and grief.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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