The Hindu, pic by Dayanand Kukkaje, Daijiworld News Network- Mangalore

• Minorities panel member visits riot-hit areas 
• People say women were insulted
• Many organisations give representations to Josh

Mangalore, Oct 20: Harcharan Singh Josh, member of the National Commission for Minorities, who was here on a fact-finding mission following the recent riots here, said on Thursday that members of the minority community at Ullal complained to him that the police assaulted women and innocent people during the curfew period.

Addressing presspersons, Josh said he would submit a report to the commission in three days. Josh said he found that the police insulted women although Indian society held them in high esteem.

Harcharan Singh Josh, member of the National Commission for Minorities at the riot-affected areas

Josh said people at Ullal told him that the police dragged women and innocent people out of their homes on the night on October 6 when curfew was in force in the name of search operations and beat them up mercilessly.

"Even a pregnant woman was dragged out of her home by the police," Josh quoted the people as saying.

He said that the people told him that the police entered 12 homes at Ullal and damaged the windowpanes and destroyed electronic goods. A 55-year-old woman claimed that she was beaten up by the police and that her two sons were taken away. Josh said that many organisations had given him representations.

He said he also visited a temple at Kuttar.

To a query, Josh said that he did not visit Bajal-Veeranagar where some people affected by violent incidents were given shelter.

He said that the district administration should have taken precautionary measures to prevent such incidents.

Josh said he would meet Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and Governor T.N. Chaturvedi in Bangalore.

Blasius M D'Souza, MLC, K Ashraf, Mayor, B Ramanath Rai, former Minister and leader of the Congress, Vijaya Kumar Shetty, former MLA and a few Congress workers were present.