The Hindu

Mangalore, Jul 28: No one can forcibly evict people from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from their lands under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, said Manjunath K Annigeri, Superintendent of Police, Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement, Mangalore Region, here on Sunday.

He was responding to a query by Krishnappa of Ekkar at a monthly meeting convened by the district police to address the problems being faced by these communities. Mr. Krishnappa alleged that some officials of the MSEZ Ltd were trying to forcibly evict people from these villages. Citing an incident, Mr. Krishnappa said that when he went to Urwa Police Station to lodge a complaint against an official of MSEZ Ltd, he was made to wait for five hours.

He said that he had gone to the police station at 1.15 p.m. and the police there registered his case at 6 p.m. Replying to this, Mr. Annigeri said he would enquire about the cause of the delay before passing any comments.

L. Shekar from Belthangady taluk objected to the use of “Harijan” in ration cards.