Bengaluru, Jul 6 (DHNS) : Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said he has not interfered in the incident where Mysuru Deputy Commissioner C Shikha was reportedly abused by Congressman Marigowda.
In his reply to Opposition leader Jagadish Shettar, who raised the issue in the Legislative Assembly, Siddaramaiah said that neither was Marigowda his close associate, nor had he restrained the police from recording Shikha’s complaint, as claimed by Opposition parties. Shettar sought Siddaramaiah’s explanation about the incident, given the fact that he too was in Mysuru at that time.
BJP MLA C T Ravi sought to know if Siddaramaiah had mounted “pressure” on Mysuru police not to register the complaint, as Marigowda was said to be his close aide.
Irked, Siddaramaiah shot back saying that Marigowda was not his “paramaapta” (close aide), and that he was just a Congress party worker.
Asking the BJP not to “politicise” the issue, Siddaramaiah also said the government had at no point interfered in such matters. “Shikha is a good officer and hence she has been retained in Mysuru for the last three years. I was in Mysuru on the day of the incident, but I only learnt about it later. The complaint has been lodged in Nazarbad police station and investigations are on,” he said.
‘Arrest Marigowda’
Opposition leader in the Legislative Council K S Eshwarappa on Tuesday demanded immediate arrest of Marigowda.
Eshwarappa said Marigowda has not been arrested even two days after the incident. The DC had lodged a police complaint, but the police are not taking any action.
This is because Marigowda is a close confidant of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Eshwarappa said. “Women officers are not safe under the Congress rule. The government is protecting goons,” he charged.
The Mysuru DC has told the media that Marigowda was facing charges of encroaching government land. The incident is a testimony to maladministration in the state, Eshwarappa said.
Earlier, Vimala Gowda (BJP) charged the government with inaction on the issue. When an IAS officer is subjected such humiliation, one can imagine the fate of the common man in the state, she added.