JOIN USPolice officers beware! Answer Karnataka ministers’ phone calls immediately or get ready for immediate transfer.
Anupama Shenoy, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) of Kudligi taluk in Ballari district, who kept Minister of State for Labour T Parameshwara Naik waiting for about 42 seconds on phone, was promptly transferred to Indi taluk in Vijayapura district.
And the minister, who is in-charge of Ballari district, without any qualms admitted shunting out the woman police officer just because she had put his phone call on hold!
The minister, while addressing Congress party workers on Tuesday evening, was candid enough to make the admission. However, in the morning, he had denied his role in the unceremonious exit of the DySP. The footage of the minister’s bravado was recorded near Hadagali in Ballari district and aired by TV channels on Wednesday.
The ordeal of Shenoy, 34, began about eight days ago. A follower of Naik is said to have called her on mobile phone saying the minister wished to speak to her.
Meanwhile, she received a call from her superior. Since the earlier call, from the minister’s supporter, was from an unknown number she put it on hold and answered her superior’s phone call.
This was enough for Naik to lose his cool. He ensured that she was out of Kudligi. The officer, according to sources in the police department, has proceeded on leave. She was posted to Kudligi about a year ago.
Followers of Naik had been complaining against Shenoy because she had clipped the wings of those who were into illegal sand mining. Efforts were on to get her shifted out of the taluk, it is said.
In the TV footage, the minister was heard saying, “She did not speak to me on the phone even for 42 seconds, let alone for 42 minutes. When the officer was called again, she did not receive the call. That led me to get her transferred. Why should I lie?”
The minister claimed in his speech that he had called Shenoy to speak to her about a woman’s murder which the police had declared as a suicide.
In the footage Naik was heard saying: “Even common people understand the need to respect others. If the district in-charge minister gets no respect, then why should she continue? That’s why I am speaking my heart out.”