A political firestorm has erupted in Jharkhand over the recent spike in crime in the state. Director General of Police (DGP) Anurag Gupta on Monday claimed that many of these incidents are being orchestrated from inside the prisons.
“Jharkhand Police will take strict action against such criminals and their associates operating outside. Some inmates have already been shifted to other jails,” he said.
While the case is high-profile in nature, it took a sluggish start in the beginning, with 22 investigators tasked across years since the case was registered in 2013. Only after a formal complaint was filed by DFO Singh in 2022 did the police act with speed, establishing an SIT headed by IPS officer Sarvesh Panwar, who has since taken charge of the probe.
The April 2024 charge sheet identifies several accused, including Nathuram, Deepak Sharma, Smita Dixit, Subhash Sharma, and some more who are connected with the forgery of documents to obtain forest land. Ongoing legal proceedings, the case is also questioning official corruption and abuse of authority in land transactions and its relevance to forest protection and government accountability in Uttarakhand.
