<p>A citizens’ group in Indiranagar, which took up afforestation in association with the BBMP at a time when governmental agencies have been destroying Bengaluru’s greenery, learnt to their shock that police have registered an FIR for their work. </p>.<p>When members of I Change Indiranagar took up the drive to plant trees on 100 Feet Road on October 2, the local MLA, S Raghu, took part in the event. The next day, they found to their shock that Indiranagar police booked them for digging pits to plant the saplings!</p>.<p>“The day before the event, we took the help of the police to clear footpaths encroached upon by illegal parking. However, a senior traffic police who wanted the parking to continue took it as an affront and forced a BBMP engineer to file a complaint,” a member of the group claimed. </p>.<p>Interestingly, the complaint was given by an engineer from the BBMP’s Domlur ward office, which has no jurisdiction over the road which comes under the Indiranagar ward. </p>.<p>“The afforestation drive is an annual affair to mark Gandhi Jayanti and officials from several agencies participate in it. The Indiranagar BBMP officials took part in the event. The police officer pressured the Domlur ward engineer to file a complaint,” the member added. </p>.<p>The Domlur engineer said the members had “disfigured the pavements by digging holes to plant the saplings” and it was endangering pedestrians. </p>.<p>The I Change Indiranagar also complained about the police officer to the higher-ups. “We waited for more than 15 days in the hope that the FIR would be dismissed and action would be taken against the police officer who misused his power. We are worried that the attempt to intimidate civic activists will continue despite the fact that we work with the system,” the member told <span class="italic">DH</span>. </p>.<p>When contacted by this newspaper, Indiranagar police inspector said the BBMP official had filed the complaint two days after the planting of saplings and had now sought to withdraw the complaint. “We have sent a proposal for withdrawal. Being a responsible government official, he should know better than filing such complaints,” the inspector said. </p>
<p>A citizens’ group in Indiranagar, which took up afforestation in association with the BBMP at a time when governmental agencies have been destroying Bengaluru’s greenery, learnt to their shock that police have registered an FIR for their work. </p>.<p>When members of I Change Indiranagar took up the drive to plant trees on 100 Feet Road on October 2, the local MLA, S Raghu, took part in the event. The next day, they found to their shock that Indiranagar police booked them for digging pits to plant the saplings!</p>.<p>“The day before the event, we took the help of the police to clear footpaths encroached upon by illegal parking. However, a senior traffic police who wanted the parking to continue took it as an affront and forced a BBMP engineer to file a complaint,” a member of the group claimed. </p>.<p>Interestingly, the complaint was given by an engineer from the BBMP’s Domlur ward office, which has no jurisdiction over the road which comes under the Indiranagar ward. </p>.<p>“The afforestation drive is an annual affair to mark Gandhi Jayanti and officials from several agencies participate in it. The Indiranagar BBMP officials took part in the event. The police officer pressured the Domlur ward engineer to file a complaint,” the member added. </p>.<p>The Domlur engineer said the members had “disfigured the pavements by digging holes to plant the saplings” and it was endangering pedestrians. </p>.<p>The I Change Indiranagar also complained about the police officer to the higher-ups. “We waited for more than 15 days in the hope that the FIR would be dismissed and action would be taken against the police officer who misused his power. We are worried that the attempt to intimidate civic activists will continue despite the fact that we work with the system,” the member told <span class="italic">DH</span>. </p>.<p>When contacted by this newspaper, Indiranagar police inspector said the BBMP official had filed the complaint two days after the planting of saplings and had now sought to withdraw the complaint. “We have sent a proposal for withdrawal. Being a responsible government official, he should know better than filing such complaints,” the inspector said. </p>
