The Chhattisgarh government Wednesday transferred SRP Kalluri from the post of Inspector General of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and Economic Offence Wing (EOW) to the post of transport commissioner. His batchmate GP Singh will now take over as IG, ACB and EOW. The newly elected state government’s decision to ‘promote’ him early last month had raised eyebrows and drawn criticism.
Kalluri, who has been accused of human rights excesses by human rights activists and even the Congress in the past, was an important figure as Inspector General of ACB and EOW, and more importantly, the head of SITs probing issues such as the PDS ‘scam’ that the government considers significant.
The appointment of this controversial officer to the post had raised eyebrows given the serious charges of intimidation, human rights excesses that he had faced during his tenure in Bastar, made by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel when he was in the opposition. Kalluri’s appointment to the key anti-graft posts had also ruffled feathers within the police department and senior bureaucracy, with many displeased with his appointment, and unhappy with his new proximity to the Chief Minister Last week, as many as 15 MPs had written to Baghel, asking him to set up an “overarching inquiry that looks into the actions” of IG SRP Kalluri during his tenure in Bastar.
The letter signed by MPs from Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Tripura, had said, “The excesses and illegalities committed by him remain unpunished. We request you to set up an overarching inquiry that looks into his actions for the last 5 years and punishes him for his misdeeds. We are bringing this fact to light in the context of the massive mandate you have received in order to bring peace and development to the region.”
On January 4, 2019, news of his promotion came in. This controversial former Bastar Inspector General of Police SRP Kalluri as the head of the Economic Offences Wing and the Anti-Corruption Bureau in state capital Raipur.
The 1994-batch IPS officer had served as IG of Bastar Range from June 2014 to February 2017. During his posting in the Naxal hotbed, Kalluri had faced criticism for alleged fake encounters and targeting local journalists, social and human rights activists. In February 2017 Kalluri was moved out of Bastar and transferred to PHQ, Raipur.
The decision had shocked many as current CM of state, Bhupesh Baghel, had called Kalluri a rapist and had demanded he be thrown in jail when he was a part of the Opposition. He had launched an extensive tirade against him in 2016. “The Congress government led by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was widely expected to investigate Kalluri’s track record of alleged human rights violations. In October 2016, as the state Congress president, Baghel had asked for Kalluri to be jailed. However, his government appears to have rewarded the controversial officer by appointing him to key posts,” a report said.