Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (DV)
Mangaluru, Jul 12: Members and activists of the district BJP on Tuesday July 12 barged into premises of deputy commissioner's office while protesting against the state government over the recent suicide of DySP M K Ganapati.
The BJP staged a protest in front of the DC's office. After the first few speeches, the protestors gatecrashed into the DC's office.
The protestors, demanding the resignation of minister K J George, and officers A M Prasad and Pranab Mohanty, shouted slogans and created a chaos. They also shouted slogans against the DC and demanded that he come out of the office to accept their memorandum.
The police also arrived to control the situation.
MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, district BJP president Sanjeeva Matandoor, former MLA Rukmaya Poojary, Satyajit Suratkal and many other BJP leaders were part of the protest.
Finally, additional DC Kumar met the protestors and accepted the memorandum from Sanjeeva Matandoor.
There was a verbal clash between the ADC and the protestors, as a seemingly miffed Nalin Kateel pointed out that they had been made to wait for over an hour to submit the memorandum, which should have otherwise taken only two minutes. "If the DC was busy with court meetings, someone else could have come to meet us. This should not repeat in future," he warned.
The protest was called off after the submission of the memorandum.
Earlier, addressing the protest, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel said, "People voted for Siddaramaiah's government hoping that he would give is 'Rama Rajya', but the government has turned the state into 'Ravana Rajya'. It has become a government of murderers. D K Ravi committed suicide, but the case was twisted, and the same is happening with suicide cases of DySPs Kallappa and Ganapati. Even when sub-inspector Mallikarjun Bande was killed, the government was silent. The CM is responsible for DySP Ganapati's suicide, as he's keeping such people of bad conduct in the cabinet.
"During the three years when K J George was home minister, it was his son and Siddaramaiah's son who were running the show. But the CM did not question or stop them. The government has tied the hands of the police and is making them do as it wants by interfering in their work. Nobody is allowed to work freely. Even the women officers are not spared from harassment.
"Ganapati was a sincere officer who also tried to curb communal violence when he was officer. He mentioned three names before ending his life. The district BJP hence demands George's resignation. FIR must be filed and arrests should be made. If the CM has any sense of responsibility and sincerity, let him sack the minister," Nalin said.
"After the news of Ganapati's suicide broke, the home minister issued a statement in just 10 minutes. How could he come to any conclusion so soon? If the CM cannot seek George's resignation, he should himself resign.
"We will not give up until George resigns or till FIR is registered. We will continue our protests till the government collapses in the state," he declared.
District BJP president Sanjeeva Matandoor said, "Sincere officers are committing suicide under Siddaramaiah's government. People gave mandate to the Congress government for good administration, but it has completely failed. During Siddaramaiah's tenure, 1,300 farmers have committed suicide and the government, either through influence or interference, is not allowing officers to perform their duty. Officers are facing threats from Congress leaders and have to live in fear.
"We demand the sacking of minister K J George and filing of FIR, if not, BJP will intensify the protest. We are also ready to hold district-wide bandh if justice is not done," he warned.