Concerned over excessive meddling by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in alleged cow-slaughter cases, the Gujarat government has issued renewed directions to the police cautioning against taking active ‘help’ from the Hindutva outfit.
“We have sent directions asking them to do their investigations independently and not be accompanied by them,” a State Intelligence source told The Hindu .
In recent months, Gujarat has seen a series of incidents of communal violence that peaked during the Eid festival last month. In the clashes in Vadodara and Ahmedabad, locals reported that police teams were accompanied by men in plainclothes during raids.
“The instructions are very clear that no one else can be part of a police visit. If any tip-off is shared, action should be as per the law,” S.K. Nanda, Additional Chief Secretary, Home, told The Hindu .
Asked if the law had been flouted in any of the recent cases of communal clashes, Mr. Nanda remained non-committal.
“I do not know which reports are these [about the VHP accompanying the police],” he said. Nevertheless, “We have only reiterated our instructions that there is no need to spring into action on the basis of information given [by VHP],” he said.
