After days of persuasion, Ganga Charan, 80, had finally agreed to spend this Holi with his grandson, Narendra Kumar, a 2009-batch IPS officer posted in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh. Ganga Charan reached his grandson's government quarters in Morena on Thursday morning, and Kumar promised to come back in an hour to join him for lunch. He never did.

A 32-year-old sub-divisional police officer of Banmore in Morena district, Kumar had intercepted a truck carrying illegally quarried stones yesterday. As he tried to flag it down, the vehicle allegedly ran him over, killing him instantly.

Lalpur village, barely 50 km from Mathura, mourned as Kumar's last rites were held in the open fields owned by Kumar's family this morning. Amid a long line of vehicles and a sea of mourners, his wife Madhurani Tewatia, an IAS officer posted in Gwalior, lit the pyre. She is expecting their first child and was on maternity leave in Delhi when she heard of the killing.

Tewatia's father S P Singh, who works for the Delhi Police, was the first to receive the news on Thursday afternoon.

"Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh called to say he would visit us soon, but what is the point of that?" said Kumar's father Keshav Dev, a sub-inspector posted in Aligarh. "We have asked for a CBI inquiry, but he refused to commit to that saying the CBI is not under him. My son was an honest police officer and despite being offered bribes several times by the mining mafia, he was trying to curb illegal mining. This is the price he had to pay."

Kumar's uncle Rajpal Singh told The Indian Express, "There was a gunner and a driver with Narendra when he first got information about the truck carrying illegally quarried stones. According to the gunner, Narendra had placed barriers on the road to stop the vehicle but it took a detour through the field next to the road. Narendra started running after it and clung onto it but fell off and the truck ran over him."

However Kumar's father questions this version, pointing out that the truck could not have run over his torso if he was clinging to it from the rear. "At the most his legs would have been crushed. But there were tyre marks all over his torso. Also why did the gunner and driver not try to save my son?" Dev asked.

Alleging that the BJP government protects the mining mafia, Dev believes Kumar's death could be a conspiracy by a certain party leader.

The grieving family said Tewatia too has been targeted and, despite having won the best trainee award, was shunted from Jabalpur to Gwalior. "We have already lost one family member because he was honest. We do not want to lose another," they said.

Born in 1979, Kumar did his Masters in Economics from Aligarh Muslim University before deciding to try for the civil services. Having joined the IPS in 2009, he was posted in Bihar and Ujjain before joining office in Morena about 45 days ago.

"Since Narendra's wife was in the Madhya Pradesh cadre he managed to get a posting here," another of Kumar's uncles, Harpal Singh, said.

Calling Kumar a pride of their village, Singh added: "He is the only one not only from this village but from among all other villages here to have made it to the IPS. Despite having climbed the ladder, he did not forget his roots and visited us often."

According to Ganga Charan, before their wedding, Kumar explained to his wife too that Lalpur village was an intrinsic part of his life and she would have to accept it as her own. "They often visited the village and called on all the elders. Sometimes Madhurani came alone," he said.

It was a tough marriage due to their postings in different states and cities. Only now, when Narendra was posted in Morena and she in Gwalior had they managed to snatch some time together.

Due to deliver their first child anytime now, Tewatia won't have her husband next to her yet again. "She is a strong woman and has vowed she will ensure her husband gets justice," said Keshav Dev. "Though we are worried and want her to take a transfer, she wants to stay on in Madhya Pradesh and fight the battle for justice."

After the last rites in Lalpur were over, the family drove back to their home in Aligarh, an hour's drive away. Tewatia immediately went to a city hospital for check-up.

Walking into her in-laws' house, she consciously kept her gaze away from the living room's wall that had framed pictures of her wedding  of a beaming bride clutching a groom clumsily. Next to it hung two other pictures: of her and Kumar's IAS and IPS graduation ceremonies.

MP orders probe, rules out conspiracy

The Madhya Pradesh government on Friday ordered a judicial probe into the murder of IPS officer Narendra Kumar. CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan said his government would continue to target illegal mining. However, the government has ruled out the possibility of a conspiracy to kill Kumar, saying the driver booked for murder was transporting sandstone for personal use.

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