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Who is Nainital DM Vandana Singh and why arrest her trending?

Vandana Singh Chauhan, the District Magistrate (DM) of Nainital, is responsible for quelling the unrest. The city of Haldwani in Uttarakhand

By Ground report 17 Feb 2024

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Who is Nainital DM Vandana Singh and why arrest her trending?

The city of Haldwani in Uttarakhand experienced tension as violence erupted in the Banbhoolpura area of Indira Nagar following an attempt by the police to remove a madrasa. Located in the Nainital district, Vandana Singh Chauhan, the District Magistrate (DM) of Nainital, is responsible for quelling the unrest.

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On Saturday, the Uttarakhand government conducted an anti-encroachment drive which resulted in the demolition of an "illegal structure". This action sparked clashes in the Banbhoolpura police station area of Haldwani last week. Subsequently, the Nainital Police issued curfew relief in this area.

Amid unprecedented communal violence in Haldwani, District Magistrate Vandana Singh emerges as one of the heroes defusing the tension. However, some people also criticize her decision to demolish the "illegally" constructed madarsa in Banbhoolpura, Haldwani.

Who is Nainital DM Vandana Singh?

Vandana Singh was born on April 4, 1989, in Haryana. She is a 2012 batch IAS officer of the Uttarakhand cadre. She had a big dream of joining the IAS since she was a child. However, her family did not support her education because she was a girl. They did not want her to go to college or study hard. But Vandana did not give up. Her father helped her to go to Kanya Gurukul near Moradabad, where she studied Sanskrit. Her relatives were angry with her father for doing this. But Vandana did not care. She studied more and more.

Vandana Singh passed the UPSC exam and became an IAS officer in 2012. She is a 2012-batch IAS officer of the Uttarakhand cadre. Vandana Singh IAS has worked in many places in Uttarakhand. She was the DM of Almora district before becoming the DM of Nainital.

publive-image — Vandana Singh Chauhan. Photo Credit: X

Vandana has done many good things in the places she has worked. She has helped in making the places better and safer. She has also helped in dealing with disasters and problems in Uttarakhand. Vandana Singh IAS is a good leader and a good person.

Vandana Singh, the Nainital District Magistrate praised for handling violence in Haldwani after the removal of an illegal structure on February 8, is facing criticism from some societal factions. A social media campaign using #ArrestVandanaSingh accuses her of bias and heavy-handedness.

The controversy stems from the demolition of a mosque and a madrasa in Banbhoolpura area of Haldwani, which the authorities claimed were built illegally on government land and were not registered as religious structures. The demolition sparked protests and riots by some locals, who attacked the police and the officials with stones, petrol bombs, and firearms. The police retaliated with tear gas and firing, resulting in four deaths and several injuries.

However, some users on Twitter have demanded her immediate arrest and blamed her for the violence and the loss of lives and property. One user wrote, “Nainital IAS Vandana Singh should be arrested as soon as possible. We called all the Muslim Ulemas but no one’s phones were found - IAS Vandana Singh, in response to which another user said that it was a lie and all the 80 Muslim clerics had their phones switched off.

Another user wrote, “Nainital’s IAS Vandana Singh Chauhan should be arrested. What kind of problem or disaster arose that a 20-year-old mosque was demolished because it was illegal?”

Another user wrote, “We called all the Muslim Ulemas but no one got the call and saying this the DM sir got up from there and went away, meaning none of the 80 people who are Muslim Ulemas got the call, if there is an independent investigation into the Haldwani violence, then IAS Vandana Singh and the Corporation Commissioner will be the first to go to jail.”