Consider request to transfer SI, Speaker tells government

Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa on Monday asked Home Minister K J George to consider a request by JD(S) MLA Manjunath Gowda to transfer a sub-inspector (SI) from a village in Hosapete.

Bheema Naik, JD(S) member from Hagaribommanahalli, drew the attention of George to the alleged failure of the Mariammanahalli police in controlling the gambling rackets in the village.

George refuted these allegations, saying that the police had arrested 42 people in connection with gambling allegations and that the police had controlled the menace.

Naik and other JD(S) members, not satisfied with the response, stood up in unison, demanding the transfer of the SI over allegations of high-handedness and corruption. The matter got complicated with Labour Minister P T Parameshwar Naik defending the SI and the personnel of the police station.

Thimmappa intervened and told the Home Minister, “Why can’t the SI be transferred? The MLA had come to me twice with the request, please reconsider it.”
His request came as a surprise to many as usually speakers keep off such matters.

The Home Minister asked the JD(S) member to give a separate question in writing regarding the SI, so that he can respond to it after getting the details. “As far as the transfer goes, it is the prerogative of the Police Establishment Board,” said George.

Mangaluru incident

In a separate response to BJP member V Sunil Kumar, on the communal tension in Mangaluru on November 5, George said that the police had filed cases against those who had violated Section 144 of the IPC. An association belonging to a particular community had tried to take out a procession on that day.

BJP members alleged that the government was targeting only one section of the society, while appeasing another.

George said that the procession was heading towards a road dominated by members of the minority community.

“To avoid communal clashes, the police decided not to allow the association to take out the procession on that stretch. However, there was a lot of stone-throwing, which led to a KSRP van and a bus being damaged. We arrested people belonging to the association who were involved in the stone-throwing and also for violating Section 144,” George said. He said that all those involved in the stone-throwing, including members of the minority community, were arrested. A total of 40 people were arrested.

Unhappy with the response, BJP members tried to protest inside the well of the House. But, the Speaker adjourned the House before that.