Centre transfers Srinagar SSP Rakesh Balwal to Manipur

The Centre has rushed senior IPS officer Rakesh Balwal from Jammu and Kashmir to Manipur amid fresh violence in the northeastern state.

Balwal, a 2012 batch IPS officer serving as Srinagar senior superintendent of police (SSP), has been transferred to his parent cadre Manipur where the situation has been tense for the past few months. He took charge as Srinagar SSP in late 2021.

"The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Home Affairs for premature repatriation of Rakesh Balwal, IPS, from AGMUT cadre to Manipur cadre," an official order said.

Before taking charge as Srinagar SSP, Balwal was on deputation with the NIA for three-and-half years as superintendent of police and was a member of the team that investigated the 2019 Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives.

More than 180 people have been killed and several hundred injured since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3, when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

A fresh bout of violence, this time led by students, broke out in the state capital on Tuesday after photos of the bodies of two youths who went missing in July went viral on social media.

Violent protests continued till the early hours of Thursday with a mob vandalising the deputy commissioner's office in Imphal West and torching two four-wheelers, officials said.

On Wednesday night, the protesters clashed with security personnel in Uripok, Yaiskul, Sagolband and Tera areas, prompting the forces to fire several rounds of tear gas shells to control the situation, they said.