Who Is Praveen Kumar Laxkar?
As earlier mentioned I.A.S officer Praveen Kumar Laxkar, born on 1 July 1982, is the District Magistrate and Collectorate of Hathras district. According to the details on the Uttar Pradesh government's website, Laxhar was appointed to IAS on 3 September 2012. His educational qualifications include M.A. in History and B.E.D. M.A. in Hindi.
The officer hails from Rajasthan's capital city Jaipur. He began his district training in Raebareli from 18 April 2013 which went on till 6 August 2014. Then he was posted in Aligarh as the Joint Magistrate on 7 August 2014 and he was there till 20 April 2016. He then served as Chief Development Officer in Lalitpur from 21 April 2016 till 17 April 2018. After that, he was brought to Uttar Pradesh's capital city Lucknow as Special Secretary in Panchayati Raj Department on 17 April 2018 and was there till 2 March 2019. His current posting at Hathras began on 2 March 2019.
ALSO READ | Rahul Gandhi To Make Another Attempt To Meet Victim's Family, Priyanka Gandhi With A Force Of 40 MPs To Accompany
Why Is He Mired In Controversy?
Hathras DM Praveen Kumar Laxkar has been in the news lately because of the rape case reported in the district. What has caused particular outrage in the matter is the family's allegations and reports of how the victim's mortal remains were cremated without the family's consent. Videos and photos of the same had gone viral.
On October 1, the way Congress party workers were stopped along with former party president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is also general secretary of the All India Congress Committee in charge of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, fuelled curiosity over the matter further.
Then another video of Parveen Laxhar, where he seems to be issuing a veiled threat to the victim's family, was widely spread all over. He was heard saying "Don't hurt your own credibility. The media people will go away in a few days. But we are here with you. Now it is up to you, whether you want to keep changing your statements or not".
He then issued a clarification stating that he was there to listen to the family's grievances as that is his duty and denied the negative reports.
In another shocking development, the media persons were forcefully barred from meeting the family members of the victim and after a relentless protest for justice, the family's voice has reached the people directly.
The family members have now directly levelled several serious allegations against the District Magistrate. These include not showing them the girl's face before cremating her in a hurry, not letting them speak to the media, confiscating their mobile phones, and tapping their calls.
They have also alleged that the DM told them they would not have received Rs 25 lakh compensation if their daughter had died of Covid-19 and wanted them to shut up since they are getting the amount.
What the Special Investigation Team's report reveals about the handling of the case, remains to be seen.