Report on Jat agitation violence blames officials for laxity

The Prakash Singh Committee, set up to probe lapses in the official response to the violence during the Jat agitation in Haryana in February, has held certain police and administrative officers guilty of laxity.

The panel, headed by Prakash Singh, former Director General of Police (DGP) for Uttar Pradesh and Assam, submitted its report to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar here on Friday.

Sources in the Haryana government told IANS that nearly 30 officials were held responsible for inadequate response to the situation during the Jat reservation agitation from February 7 to 22 this year, which turned violent and paralysed life in 10 districts of Haryana.

Khattar, after getting the report said," The government would examine it and take appropriate action at the earliest."

The Jat reservation agitation resulted in blockade of roads, including national highways, and extensive damage to public and private properties in many districts during the violence. At least 30 people, mostly young men, were killed and over 320 others injured. Property worth hundreds of crores of rupees was damaged and destroyed in the mayhem.

The report examined the role of officers in the affected districts like Rohtak, Jhajjar, Jind, Hisar, Kaithal, Bhiwani, Sonepat and Panipat, a state government spokesman said here.

"Officers who were derelict in the performance of their duties or who showed soft corner for the agitators and thereby allowed them a long rope have been identified," the spokesperson said.

The committee was set up to probe into omissions on the part of all the officials of civil and police administration during the reservation agitation.