Sixty per cent of the complaints lodged with the State Human Rights Commission are related to police atrocity, said member of the commission C G Hunagund, who visited the city recently.

A person, on condition of anonymity, said he visited the police station to get information on his brother’s arrest, but landed in the lock-up and the police thrashed him black and blue.

A 55-year-old vendor, who held a press meet a few months ago, alleged that though he was a regular tax payer and donates liberally to temples, Hassan police harass him accusing him of involvement in temple theft. These are a few incidences of alleged police harassment.

But, police have a different version. “Arresting culprits is a huge problem. After the arrest, we are pressurised from various influential persons to release the culprits. Protests are held under the banner of human rights and other organisations. Sometimes the accused escape easily from the clutches of law,” they said.
But, people allege that the police personnel have duplicate receipt books for fleecing public in the name of penalty.

It may be recalled that pawnbrokers and jewellery shop owners staged a series of protests against police atrocity recently.

However, Superintendent of Police Ravi D Channanavar is holding several programmes like ‘Tereda mane’ and ‘Mohalla sabhe’ to create a people-friendly environment in the district. People opine steps should be taken to weed out corrupt and violent personnel in the department.

Apart from suspension of a police constable for alleged extortion, there has been no action taken against police in the recent past.