Public outrage over the murder of yoga trainer Jyoti Mer; citizens demand removal of SSP Nainital,

Pavneet Singh bindra

Haldwani,,,,Today, under the leadership of Pahadi Army Uttarakhand Metropolitan President Fauji Bhuvan Pandey, a memorandum was submitted to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami via the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Haldwani. The memorandum demanded the suspension of SSP Nainital over alleged negligence in the murder case of “the daughter of the hills,” yoga trainer Jyoti Mer.

Fauji Bhuvan Pandey stated that on 31 July, yoga trainer Jyoti Mer was murdered in her room at JK Puram. However, the police initially dismissed it as a suicide. Three days later, when the post-mortem report came out, it revealed brutal and merciless killing. Yet, even after 15 days, the accused was still absconding.

Pandey alleged that when Pahadi Army activists, along with family members, protested outside the yoga center demanding the culprit’s arrest, Jyoti Mer’s elderly mother was dragged on the road, and the Metropolitan President, Organization Minister, and other members were pushed into a vehicle, taken to Haldwani Kotwali, and intimidated with threats of being charged in a case.

Furthermore, on 8 August, when Pahadi Army President Harish Rawat went with family members to meet the SP City outside his office, he was allegedly grabbed by the collar and dragged to the police station where he was detained for two hours. It is alleged that, on orders of the SSP, the SHO not only behaved like a criminal with him, but also used abusive and obscene language towards the women present. The entire incident has been captured on video and has gone viral on social media, causing massive public outrage.

The protesters declared that such “police hooliganism” will not be tolerated and demanded the immediate suspension of the SSP.

District President Mohan Kandpal, Prema Mer, and Kavita Jeena said that the otherwise peaceful district of Nainital has recently seen rising unrest — whether it was the Banbhoolpura incident or the Nainital Usman Kanpur case — and in both, the SP appeared to have failed. They argued that removing the SSP is absolutely necessary to restore public confidence in safety, as incidents of hooliganism, firing, theft, robbery, and heinous crimes are increasing with no effective action from the SSP.

The protest leaders warned that if immediate action is not taken, the movement will spread statewide.

Those present during the protest included District President Mohan Kandpal, District General Secretary Rajendra Kandpal, Subedar Major Dinesh Joshi, Fauji Kamlesh Jethi, Youth City President Vinod Negi, Deepa Pandey, Engineer Gokul Mehra, Deepak Chand Goswami, Kailash Dalakothi, Pawan Singh Jala, Prema Mer, Hema Kabdwal, Vinod Bhatt, Geeta, Kavita Jeena, Babita Joshi, Kanchan Rautela, Madan Lohia, Bhavna, Neema Bisht, Monty Bohra, Haredra Rana, Vijay Bhandari, Hema and dozens of activists.