IPS Narendra Kumar killed for taking on illegal mining in MP; his IAS wife pregnant

Narendra Kumar, IPS

IN A shocking incident on the day of Holi, the festival of colours, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of 2009 batch Narendra Kumar was allegedly killed by mining mafia. The 30-year-old sub-divisional officer, posted at Banmore town in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena district, was trying to stop a tractor carrying illegal stones. But the driver, one Manoj Gujjar, ran over him. Kumar succumbed to his injuries. The driver was later taken into custody.
Narendra Kumar’s wife Madhurani Teotia, originally hailing from Delhi, is a 2008 batch MP cadre IAS. She was a doctor by profession before joining the IAS cadre. Mrs Teotia, posted in Gwalior, is expecting a baby.

The killing of the police officer has made the entire bureaucracy in MP angry and upset. But they have remained silent so far. Deputy inspector general (DIG) of Chambal Range DP Gupta however told a section of media that illegal quarrying had recently increased and Kumar was at the forefront in taking it on.

The state Congress has too taken up the issue. Leader of the Opposition Ajay Singh in a statement took a potshot at prevailing law and order situation in Madhya Pradesh “where people are so emboldened that they can think of killing an IPS officer”. The issue of illegal mining cropped up in Madhya Pradesh too, but that did not get the kind of attention as it received in Orissa, Karnataka or Goa.

As the killing of the IPS officer took place on the day of Holi, one BoI reader informed immediately: “Narendra Kumar of 2012 reminds me of a similar “Holi” day killing of Vinod Mehta IPS (71 batch Bengal cadre) on 16th March 1984”. In fact, many alleged that Mehta was killed by a mob in broad daylight in Kolkata as his fellow policemen remained inactive and intentionally let the killing take place.