JOIN USTop cop to enquire 'police excesses' in Navalgund villages
Home Minister G Parameshwara on Sunday said the government will take strict action against police personnel who used brutal force against the agitating farmers in Navalgund taluk of Dharwad district.
Addressing reporters here, the minister said that he has directed ADGP Kamal Pant to conduct an enquiry into the police excesses and submit a report in a week’s time. Appropriate action will be taken against the guilty police personnel based on the report, he added.
The Home Minister said a circle inspector of police has been suspended and DySP of Navalgund taluk has been transferred following complaints of the police using force against the farmers who were staging a protest over the Mahadayi issue.
“The police beating up the gullible farmers is wrong. I was told that many women and senior citizens have sustained injuries. It is not proper to use brutal force unnecessarily. A thorough probe will be conducted into the incident and strict action will be taken against the guilty policemen,” he stated.
He said the police, too, have complained that a section of farmers was indulging in violence. They took the law into their hands and were damaging public property. Many government offices were set on fire in Navalgund on the pretext of protest. It was also complained that some protesting farmers tried to attack the police personnel. As there are two different versions, an enquiry has been ordered, he added.
Parameshwara termed the Opposition’s demand for his resignation as a joke and asked them not to politicise the issue.
In Gadag
Members of the Raitha Sangha and the Hasiru Sene lay down in front of the car of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister H K Patil as a mark of protest in Gadag on Sunday.
The incident occurred when the minister was at the travellers’ bungalow for a meeting. At this juncture, Hasiru Sene state president Chamarasa Malipatil and other activists came out after a press meet. They saw the car parked outside and lied down before it.
The minister then came out of the meeting. When the protestors questioned him regarding police atrocities on protestors in Navalgund, Patil promised to speak to Home Minister G Parameshwara in this regard.
Inspector suspended
DG&IGP Omprakash on Sunday suspended Navalgund Circle Police Inspector Arunkumar Happali. Additional Director General of Police Bhaskar Rao, who is in-charge of law and order in Dharwad district, said the inspector was suspended for failing to prevent violence during the agitation at Navalgund on Thursday, DHNS reports from Dharwad.
Dharwad Rural Deputy Superintendent of Police Sharanappa Olekar has been stripped of the responsibility of maintaining law and order in Navalgund and has been ordered to return to his headquarters, Rao said. Action will follow against the guilty, he said.