When Dalit families heard that a meeting had been convened, they boycotted as they complained that officials had come to the village after more than one month of the incident.
Nine Dalit families had been ostracised recently when they refused to carry out work ordered by the upper caste communities.
A team comprising deputy commissioner K G Jagadish, superintendent of police Amit Singh, Dy SP P Parashuram, Sakleshpur assistant commissioner Pallavi Akurathi, social welfare officer Kanthaiah, in-charge tahsildhar Ayesha Parveen and others had arrived at the village.
However, a letter was sent to the deputy commissioner stating that the latter had failed to visit the village despite knowing about Dalit families being ostracised.
Demanding the suspension of CPI Kumaraswamy they said 17 accused are yet to be arrested. The deputy commissioner said he was ready to convene a meeting in Hassan at any time to listen to the grievances of Dalits and take necessary action.
