5 yrs after Asaram’s arrest, IPS officer gets reward
Five years ago, in August, it was an ordinary day for IPS officer Ajay Pal Lamba, then the deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Jodhpur West, until a phone call around 3pm. A DCP of Delhi Police on the other end of the phone told him about a highprofile case of rape of a minor against self-styled godman Asaram. The next five years were a mix of relentless media spotlight, the disturbing deaths of witnesses and a steady stream of threats to the police by supporters of Asaram.
Lamba, the 2005-batch officer now superintendent of police (Jaipur Rural), received more than 2,000 threat letters until he was transferred to Udaipur in January 2014.
On Independence Day, chief minister Vasundhara Raje rewarded him with a pistol and a citation for successfully building a watertight case against the godman, leading to his conviction in April this year.
The CM also rewarded Rajasthan Police Service Shantanu Singh with a 12-bore gun for arresting Indira Bishnoi six years after dust settled over the Bhanwari Devi murder case with the CBI closing probe after filing three chargesheets. Bishnoi was wanted for kidnapping and murdering the 37-year-old auxiliary nurse midwife of Jodhpur.
In all, 20 police officers were rewarded on the occasion of 72nd Independence Day at the statelevel function at Jaipur’s SMS Stadium. This included two President’s Medal.
Dharamchand Jain, the additional director general of police, vigilance and Mahaveer Singh Rajput, sub-inspector with the Thawla police in Nagaur district, were awarded President’s Police Medal for their commendable services. ADG Jain was awarded for his contribution in the implementation of Rajasthan Special Court Act 2012, solving cases such as rape of a Japanese girl, exposing corruption in private nursing colleges, solving the murder of chairman of Jodhpur Municipal Council and reducing crime.
The superintendent of police of Bikaner, Sawai Singh Godara; deputy superintendent of police, Anti Corruption Bureau, Kishore Singh Tanwar and police Inspector, CID, CB, Bikaner, Vijay Singh were conferred with the police medal and appreciation certificate.
Similarly, Rajesh Yadav, platoon commander, 11th battalion; Nahar Singh Jat, RAC, Wazirabad, Delhi; Tribhuvan Kumar Vashistha, sub-inspector, SSB, Jaipur; Gaj Singh Sisodia, sub-inspector, Chittorgarh; Moochey Khan Mehar, sub-inspector, Police Headquarters; Harbansh Singh, sub-inspector, police station Bichwal (Bikaner); sub-inspector Jagdish Prasad Swarnkar, police telecommunication, Jaipur; sub-inspection Narendra SinghGurjar,SOG;RamlalSingh Jat, head constable, 10th Battalion, RAC, Bikaner; Megh Singh Rajput, head constable, RPTC, Jodhpur; Kailash Chand Jatiya, head constable, CID (Special Branch), Jodhpur; Samundra Lal Meghwal, head constable, Fourth Battalion, RAC; Rajpal Singh Rajput, constable, 4th Battalion, RAC; Mahavir Prasad Yadav, constable, central warehouse, police headquarters and Mukesh Kumar Sharma, constable, Jaipur RTO were conferred with Police Medal.
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