JOIN USAfter CM's barb, George does a balancing act
A day after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah made stinging remarks against the police department, Home Minister K J George on Wednesday tried to defend the force as well as his party leader.
Speaking on the sidelines of a workshop on “Violence against women,” George said the chief minister did not target the entire police department in his speech at the annual conference of senior police officers.
“The chief minister was in fact speaking against a few corrupt officers in the police department, and not against the entire force. When he remarked that there was no co-ordination, he was referring to the specific instance in which sub-inspector Mallikarjun Bande was killed,” he said.
Caught on the backfoot in Bande case, George said he would respond to any queries with regard to the “lack of co-ordination” only after he receives the CID report.
“As a Home minister, I can comment on the case and the lack of co-ordination within the department officials only after the report is submitted to the government,” he said.
On the delay in nabbing culprits in the Rector Thomas murder case, which took place nearly a year ago, George said the case was quite “sensitive,” and needed a thorough investigation. He said the police are likely to file the charge sheet within a month.
Speaking at the one-day workshop held for the officials of Women and Child Welfare department and the Social Welfare department, the Home minister made a brief reference to corruption in the police force, terming corrupt ‘a few black sheep’ bringing bad name to the department.
George, in his keynote address at the workshop, said the police have already got on the right foot by setting up Spandana complex with helplines for women and elders.
The Home minister said the government has proposed to set up Spandana complex in the jurisdiction of all the seven zonal deputy commissioners of police.
He also said that both the chief minister and himself had directed the police officers to mandatorily register cases, when they pertain to violence against women and children.