Rapport with locals helped quell PF violence in some places: Report

'Situation went out of control where anti-socials were untracked'

The city police top brass has identified factors that led to violence on April 18 in Peenya, Jalahalli and Yeshwantpur and submitted their findings to Home Minister G Parameshwara on Thursday. 

The minister directed the police to deal sternly with anti-social elements and ensure basic policing in these areas.

It was basically lack of a proper rapport between the local police and the residents in these Northern parts of the city, lack of action against anti-social elements and failure in identifying a large number of slum dwellers and workers in the unorganised sector that triggered the violence. For the last few years, there were hardly any efforts to keep track of the movements of anti-social elements and slum-dwellers. A large number of unskilled workers who were not related with the garment factory workers and their demands joined the protest and created violence. The police had no clues as they never had a data of such groups.

The situation was peaceful in Bommanahalli, Singasandra, Mangammanapalya, Electronics City and surrounding areas, when Peenya, Jalahalli and Yeshwantpur were boiling. This is because the South East, North East and East Division police conducted area domination operations over the last few months and kept track of slum dwellers and anti-social elements. 

They even had ensured better rapport with them, which helped them completely control the situation on April 19, when violence broke out in Hebbagodi and Jalahalli. The locals and slum-dwellers did not join the garment factory workers, a majority of them from the City outskirts, when the protest was staged on April 18. Hence, no major violence broke out, except stone-throwing, the cops informed Parameshwara.

Additional Commissioner of Police (East) P Harishekharan, DCP (Southeast) Dr Boralingaiah and DCP (East) N Satish Kumar rushed to Hebbagodi in Bengaluru Rural and controlled the situation within a couple of hours. The angry mob would have burnt alive a few cops, including senior officers, had the City police not arrived in time, the cops said.

Parameshwara has directed the Bengaluru Rural police to keep a watch on anti-social elements and take action against those spreading violence. He suggested the Bengaluru City and Bengaluru Rural police to conduct area domination operations and rowdy parades regularly, develop a database of such groups and control their activities. 

DG&IGP Omprakash, ADGP (Law and Order) Alok Mohan, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner N S Megharik, Additional Commissioners Charan Reddy and P Harishekharan attended the meeting.