May 1 attack fallout: SDPO Kale shunted out of Gadchiroli

Nagpur: Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Shailesh Kale of Kurkheda division has been shifted out of the district. He had allegedly decided to summon Quick Response Team (QRT) in a private vehicle, which led to the death of the entire 15-member team and a private driver in Gadchiroli on May 1 in a blast triggered by Maoists.
Kale, already relieved from Gadchiroli with immediate effect, has been posted in the caste verification department at Nandurbar. Apart from the apparent blunder of ignoring Standard Operating Protocol (SOP), there was an all-round demand from families of martyred jawans to CM Devendra Fadnavis to take action against Kale. An inquiry into the whole incident was also ordered by Fadnavis, which was conducted by state DGP Subodh Kumar Jaiswal.
The decision to shift Kale was confirmed by DIG Naxal range Ankush Shinde.
In the early hours of May 1, Maoists had torched 27 vehicles and two camp site offices of a road construction company at Dadapur in Kurkheda taluka. SDPO Kale, who had earlier left for Purada police station, some 4km away from Dadapur, wanted the QRT team to join him. It's not clear whether Kale had alone decided to move the QRT or it was in consultation with other senior officers. As per standard practice, only a senior-level officer, higher than SDPO can allow such movement of force following a major Maoist incident.
TOI, apart from highlighting the alleged mistake of summoning QRT, had also pointed out that Kale was facing an inquiry for thrashing some people to help Gadchiroli's Local Crime Branch take action against a bootlegger.