M. Sunil Naik being awarded by Nitish Kumar on January 15. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Jan. 18: A Bihar cadre IPS officer has proceeded on leave, ostensibly because his bosses allegedly pressured him to arrest “innocent persons”.

Munger superintendent of police M. Sunil Naik, an officer of the 2005 batch, has chosen not to follow this “unethical demand” raised after the killing of 13 persons last month at Hiranmar diara. Though Naik, who was posted as the superintendent of the Maoist-hit district, has cited “person reasons” for proceeding on leave, highly placed sources said he was under “tremendous pressure” after last month’s incident.

The 30-year-old officer, who was honoured by chief minister Nitish Kumar at the “Police Reward Distribution” function held at Gandhi Maidan on January 15, has initially proceeded on leave till January 25. Sources close to Naik, who belongs to Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur district, said the IPS officer would extend his leave further.

“His wife Dr Padma, an MBBS doctor, is expecting in a couple of weeks,” an IPS officer close to Naik told The Telegraph.

Naik, who joined the IPS after passing out from IIT-Chennai, was reportedly feeling uncomfortable ever since he was furnished a list of about 40 accused persons and asked to arrest them, sources said, adding that he was even told to face the music if he failed to follow the diktat.

The directive that allegedly came from an unexpected quarter put Naik under tremendous pressure as many of the people whose names figured in the list were said to be innocent and they were not involved in the killing of the Naxalites and loot of their firearms.

This was perhaps the time when Naik, who had assumed charge as the SP of Munger on November 18, 2008, decided to proceed on leave. “He was desperately trying to leave the state even before January 17, the day he left for his native state,” said a police officer posted in Munger.

Altogether 13 persons were killed in an exchange of fire between the Maoists and a group of villagers (who police called criminals) in Hiranmar diara in December. Reports said the villagers, belonging to the Bind community of the diara (river island) area called Kashinath Baba Sthan, had of late been under pressure from the Maoists to send young boys for recruitment to the outlawed outfit.

Besides, the rebels had also been demanding “protection money” from the villagers. Apparently as part of a strategy to get rid of the Maoist menace, the villagers invited 20 and odd Maoists for a feast. They were served litti, mutton and liquor laced with a poisonous substance. After some of the guests consumed the items, they felt giddy. The hosts then snatched their firearms and ammunition. The irate Maoists, who had yet not consumed the food, opened fire and the villagers retaliated. After the hour-long shootout in which mostly the Maoists were killed, the villagers threw the bodies into the Ganga.

The incident set off the alarm at the state police headquarters, which directed inspector-general (Bhagalpur zone) A.K. Ambedkar and deputy inspector-general, Munger range, Shahrukh Mazid, to camp at the site.

“Let us see when we meet again,” Naik told this correspondent after being honoured by the chief minister on January 15. The SP immediately distributed the certificates among the policemen, who had come to Patna to receive the reward from the chief minister.

Naik, who survived Maoists attacks at least twice in the past one year, had sent his confidential reader to jail on the charge of leaking secret information to the Maoists a few months ago. “He has done commendable job in Munger after the August 28 Kajra incident in Lakhisarai district,” recalled a senior IPS officer posted at the state police headquarters.

Superintendent of rail police (Jamalpur) Alok Kumar has been given additional charge of Munger.