Mounesh Vishwakarma
Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal
Bantwal, Sep 2: The police have been accused of showing disrespect to Quran and tearing Madrasa books while conducting a search in a house in connection to the murder of RSS worker Sharath Madivala.
The family of Kalandar, a resident of Sajipamunnur here, on Saturday September 2 alleged that the police raided their house and while conducting search, 'threw Quran on the floor' and 'tore Madrasa books'. Kalandar, reportedly accused of accepting Rs one crore in connection to the murder case, is said to be absconding.
However, the police have denied the allegations and clarified that no religious books were touched during the search.
On Saturday morning, at around 10.30 am, the police team arrived at Kalandar's house at Panolibail Neelya in Sajipamunnur and conducted a search that went on till 2.30 pm. Kalandar's family said that the police searched every room in the house and created a mess, throwing things all over the place.
"The police came in four jeeps all of a sudden and started searching our house. They opened the cupboard in the hall and threw out all the books that were inside. When they took the Quran and started leafing through it, we urged them to keep it back in its place, but they threw it on the floor right in front of our eyes," alleged Kalandar's mother Maimuna.
"After that, they took out Madrasa books and began scattering them. When we told them that they were just Madrasa books and contained nothing incriminatory, the police retorted that Madrasa teachers train students to kill," she claimed.
"Some of the policemen were in uniforms while others were in plainclothes. They had no warrant to search. When we asked the police why they had come, they said Kalandar has received Rs one crore to kill Sharath Madivala. The police asked where we had hidden the money, and told us that they had come to take it away. They then tore the mattress of the bed and searched there too.
"They also told us to hand over Kalandar to the police in two days and threatened that we would be arrested if our son does not surrender. They also threatened to shoot him dead, and even took away his marks cards," Maimuna alleged.
Kalandar's father T Ibrahim told reporters, "If my son has committed any crime, then arrest and punish him. The police asked us where we had hidden the one crore rupees that Kalandar received, as per their claim. Let the police arrest the person who gave him that money. We do not know where Kalandar is. The police should not harass us because of him. Before this, the police took us to the station twice and harassed us. Now they are doing it in our own house. We will commit suicide if this continues."
Police deny allegations
Meanwhile, SP Sudheer Kumar Reddy denied the allegations and clarfied that the police personnel in the search team did not touch any religious book. He also said that the police have proof of this, as the search was video-recorded.
Regarding photographs of the spot purportedly showing Quran on the floor, he said that the police have evidence to prove that it was planted by mischief mongers to spark unnecessary tension, and added that strict action would be taken against anyone found guilty of the act.
Screenshots of video recorded by police during the search
In a statement to the media, the SP clarified, "No disregard or disrespect has been shown to religious books during search nor were they thrown as shown as in the photos.
"The search was done under videography and government panchas were witnesses to the incident. It was done after a search warrant was taken from court.
"We also found evidence related to the case during the search. We have videos showing that no Quran was touched or disrespected by police. We have utmost respect to all religious traditions. We have videographic evidence for that," he said.