Virbhadra Singh with Amardev at a hospital in Shimla. Virbhadra Singh with Amardev at a hospital in Shimla.

In a sudden move, the entire staff at the Kandaghat police station, including Station House Officer (SHO) Dalip Singh, were shifted and sent to the police lines in Solan hours after Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Monday met Baba Amardev, a self-styled god man facing accusations of land encroachment at village Rurra, 12 km from Kandaghat.

The action, which is likely to snowball into a major controversy in the area, has already caused serious tension in Tundal panchayat area where the villagers accused the CM and his ministers of patronising the self-style Baba instead of giving justice to the villagers who were allegedly assaulted with a sharp-edged weapon on April 26 byhim.

Two parallel FIRs have been registered at the Kandaghat police station in after the incident.

On Chief Minister’s orders on Monday afternoon, after he drove to IGMC hospital in Shimla to meet Baba Amardev where he is admitted after alleging attack on him by the villagers, Director General of Police Sanjay Kumar not only packed off the thana staff, around 23 of them, but also transferred the investigation into both the FIRs to the CID, understandably at the demand of Baba.

Also, on Tuesday, more than half-a-dozen villagers, including some women named by the baba in the FIR, were arrested after Solan court declined to grant them bail. “I am not sure about the number of persons arrested, but there have been arrests in the case, said the DGP. Asked