Sullia: Stone Pelting on Police Station - BJP Leaders among 15 Arrested
Daijiworld Media Network – Sullia (SP)
Sullia, Dec 16: Police have arrested 15 people, including some BJP leaders, in connection with a stone pelting incident on the local police station on Wednesday night.
The arrested have been remanded to judicial custody till December 29 after being produced before the judge of the court here. Protesting against what it terms as police atrocity, Hindu Hitarakshana Vedike has given a call for silent protest on Friday December 16.
Those who have been remanded to judicial custody include town panchayat vice president, Prakash Hegde, BJP leaders, P K Umesh, Dinesh Kumar, Guruprasad, Bhanuprakash, Kishen Kumar, Kiran Kumar, Satish Gowda, and others. It is learnt that the police are on the lookout for more persons in connection with the incident.
Inspector general of police (western range), Pratap Reddy, said in a press conference that the people were wrong in stoning the police station, even after the police personnel took action in the case. He said that the police had no other go but to cane and arrest the people, as the crowd went berserk. Superintendent of police (SP), Labhu Ram, was present at the press conference.
It may be recalled that a crowd had intercepted a car in which Abdul Hamid from Paivalike, and Iqbal from Uppala Kannengala, were travelling with two Jharkhand-based ladies, Shobharani and Pabharani, to Mysore in a car. These two men, who had earlier been in prison relating to their alleged involvement in fake note racket, are said to have come in contact with the ladies during their stay in the jail. These men had hired a car from Manjeshwar supposedly for securing jobs for the two women.
Over 500 people, who were shouting slogans, had gathered in front of the police station when zilla panchayat member, Navin Rai, along with some other leaders, was holding talks with the police. The police had to cane the crowd to disperse them, when they suddenly turned wild and pelted stones at the station when arrangements were being made to transport the girls to the remand home in Mangalore. Four police personnel, including two women constables, were hurt in the incident. The window panes of the car in which the women were travelling, were also damaged. Some cars and bikes in the region suffered damages, while a person named Gangadhar Elimale suffered fracture in his leg while trying to save himself from lathi charge.
Additional police contingents have been rushed to the town to maintain law and order. Additional SP, Prabhakar, Puttur inspector, Sudarshan, deputy SP, Nagaraj, local circle inspector, Taranath, and sub-inspectors from neighbouring stations, have been helping to restore and maintain peace in the town.
Hindu Hitarakshana Vedike also convened a press conference in the town on Thursday to condemn police action.
In the meanwhile, Nagaraja B, a D category employee of the community health centre here, has alleged that the police, who visited the centre after midnight on Wednesday, had beaten him up. He alleged that the police had forcibly taken him away to the police station without even bringing it to the notice of his higher ups, and mentally tortured him there.
Condemning this incident, all the officials of the taluk health department held a dharna in front of the hospital on Thursday. They availed of half-a-day’s casual leave, and wore black badges. President of Health Department Employees Union, Janardhan Kanakkur, president of Senior and Junior Health Assistants Association, Vasudeva Nayak, Karnataka Government Employees Association state council member, Dayalu Pai, and president of Employees Association, Chidanand Adtale, led the protestors.