Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (ANK)

Mangaluru, Jul 14: DGP-IG Rupak Kumar Dutta on Friday July 14 said that the situation in Dakshina Kannada district, which has seen a series of incidents of violence over the past 50 days, has returned to normal, and that the police are on the hunt for those who incited the clashes.

Addressing a press meet here, DGP Dutta said, "During my visit to the district, I held discussion with representatives of a few organizations. I also visited the places in Bantwal, Vittal and Ullal where stabbing incidents took place and broadly reveiwed the situation.

"We need not be afraid as the ground situation in Dakshina Kannada is normal, at the same time, police have taken precautionary measures. There has been a series of attacks and stabbings in the district over the past two months. They were sporadic incidents, but we never gave scope to communal clashes as our security was tightened all over the district. As many as 11 have been arrested in Karopady murder case, 13 in Ratnakar Shetty stabbing case, and 9 arrested for Ashraf's murder. In Sharath murder case, we have got clues and will crack it at the earliest. Regarding stone-pelting in Bantwal during Sharath's funeral procession, suspects are being interrogated and culprits will be arrested soon.

"The situation is peaceful as of now. We are also looking for those who provoked the clashes and will also review five-year-old cases of rowdism activities where they used weapons to sort out issues and committed crimes in the form of murder or attempt-to-murder. We will check the present status of such cases and also order the police officials to check unsolved cases and sort them out. Order has also been given to take neccesary action under sections 107, 108, 109 and 110, and book the accused under Goonda Act and KOCA Act and banish them if required," he informed.

"We are capable of solving the cases and action will be taken the culprits. I urge the media to write balanced reports and not to highlight any statement that is provocative or has the potential to disturb communal harmony. We should not encourage such statements and in fact, they should be banned," he urged.

When asked about Sharath murder case, he said, "We have got definite clues but as of now we have not detained anyone. Interrogation is in progress."

To a question on the delay in solving the Sharath murder case as compared to other cases, he said, "If you have faith in the police then you should not compare. If we crack any case quickly, it is just good luck, and if we delay then it is our bad luck. Police are working on it. Now look what happened in Karthik Raj murder case - there were lot of rumours spreading relating to the case. If we had investigated as per the rumours, then we would have ended up detaining the wrong persons. That is why we took 5 months to crack the case. Give us a little time and we will definitely arrest the right persons. A few suspects are being questioned."

On the stone-pelting at Kaikamba during Sharath's funeral procession, he said, "Stones were pelted when the procession reached Kaikamba. Some were seen collecting stones, at the same time, some vehicles sneaked in carrying stones. Police responded immediately and brought the situation under control. We are checking the videos of stone-pelting and based on that, stone-pelters will be arrested."

Police commissioner T R Suresh, IGP Harishekaran and ADGP Alok Mohan were present.