A CRPF jawan, whose video criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Rajnath Singh had gone viral in April, has been arrested and sacked from the force.
Pankaj Mishra had posted the video after a relative, who also served in the CRPF, was killed along with 24 others in an attack by Naxalites in Sukma, Chattisgarh. Soon after he posted the first video, he was transferred from Durgapur in West Bengal to Jorhat in Assam and a departmental inquiry was initiated against him.
The departmental inquiry indicted him for violating various rules and recommended his dismissal. On Sunday, a day after he was given his marching orders, the CRPF also filed a police complaint against him.
In the video, Mishra had asked Singh to stop paying tributes to soldiers if he had even “an iota of sensitivity”.
He has been booked on the charges of “obscene acts in public and criminal intimidation” under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology act.
Just days before his dismissal, he had posted another video in which he had alleged that he was beaten up for posting the video in April. He also blamed PM Modi and Rajnath Singh for ignoring the safety concerns of soldiers and urged fellow soldiers to raise their voice too.
Mishra was also critical of the poor working conditions and demanded equality with the officers in terms of fixed working hours and quality of food.
Director General of CRPF, RR Bhatnagar, confirmed the development and said Mishra had repeatedly violated rules by posting objectionable videos against the PM, HM and even the judiciary. He said that Assam Police had also found merit in the allegations.
Following his arrest, the constable told local journalists that he has done nothing wrong and would continue to highlight problems within the force and in other areas in future. He has been sent to judicial custody.
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