Hathras DM, who was under fire for post-midnight cremation of rape victim, transferred

LUCKNOW: Hathras district Magistrate Praveen Kumar Luxkar, who was under fire over post-midnight cremation of the victim of gangrape and murder, has been shifted to Mirzapur in the same capacity on Thursday evening.

Luxkar was one of the 17 IAS officers who were transferred as a routine affair on the last day of 2020. However, Luxkar was shifted almost a month ahead of the next hearing of Hathras rape and murder case in Allahabad high court scheduled for January 27, 2021.

It may be recalled that Luxkar’s removal was being sought by the victim’s family and political peers owing to his role in the cremation of the victim and subsequent handling of gangrape and murder case. The victim was cremated allegedly without the consent of her family in the dead of night.

Luxkar was replaced by Ramesh Ranjan, who had been posted at UP Jal Nigam as joint MD.

While the family of the victim, who died on September 29, has been crying foul over Luxkar’s role in the Hathras case, Allahabad High Court had also taken a suo motu cognizance of the 'forcible cremation' of the victim. The court had even questioned the state government during the previous hearings as to why no action was taken against Hathras DM while the district police chief was suspended after the incident.