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New Delhi: Rajiv Arun Ekka, principal secretary in Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren-led government, on Wednesday, June 15, ordered the senior superintendent of police for state capital Ranchi to provide an explanation as to why the police put up posters of individuals accused of participating in the June 10 protests in the state.
The previous day, the police had put up posters of 33 “suspects” thought to have participated in the protests held on June 10 against the derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad made by suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nupur Sharma.
The posters released by the Jharkhand police with the photos and personal information of the accused blurred. Photo: PTI.
The posters had been put up in public places on the directions of Jharkhand governor Ramesh Bais and reportedly contained personal details of the accused, including their addresses. They were, however, taken down later the same day on “technical grounds”.
The Jharkhand Police’s move had come after police in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur had also put up posters carrying photos and personal details of those accused of participating in the protests there.
A policeman sticks a poster of those accused of communal violence in Kanpur, Monday, June 6, 2022. Photo: PTI
What’s more, similar posters were also put by police on Wednesday in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj, another site where protests had broken out on June 10. These posters reportedly have the photographs and personal information of 59 accused.
A show-cause notice was issued to Ranchi SSP Surendra Jha the following day, seeking an explanation, according to a Hindustan Times report.
Ekka, who is also the state home secretary, wrote a letter to SSP Jha in which he cited a March 9, 2020 order of the Allahabad high court in PIL 532/2020 (RE: Banners on the roadside in the city of Lucknow) to declare the posters carrying personal information “illegal”.
The police’s decision to release the posters had come after Governor Bais had summoned a number of senior police officials to the Jharkhand Raj Bhawan.
The Indian Express quoted a press release from the public relations department which said that Bais told the officials: “Find out details of all protesters and those who have been caught, make their names/addresses public, make their hoardings by displaying their photographs at main places in the city so that the public can also identify them and help police.”
Members of the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha as well as some from the Congress had opposed the move, calling it an overreach by the Union government.
JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya had said that these actions could harm the communal harmony of the state.
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