Mangalore , March 4, 2013 : Members of the Byra community who had attended the SC/ST grievance redressal meeting held at the SP office on March 3, Sunday, in large numbers, took the Bantwal cops to task for not attending to the complaints of the community members.
One case that was raised at the meeting was that of Sandeep (22), a bus cleaner who belonged to the Byra community and hailed from Manchikatte.
DK Shashidar of Bantwal Taluk Byra Samaja Seva Sangha, who spoke at the meeting chaired by DySP Sadananda Varnekar in the absence of the SP, said that the complaint lodged by Sandeep and his father Srinivas with the Bantwal police with regard to the assault on Sandeep by four persons including one Sujith, was not accepted.
Shashidhar, said later on when members of the Sangha had been to the station, the officers there insisted that words like ‘lethal assault’ and ‘atrocity against SC/ST’ be removed from the complaint.
He said the complaint was not registered till late in the night until the Sub-Inspector intervened and added a constable even said that the police had received a phone call from a leader to get some of the words removed from the complaint.
Shashidhar said the accused were arrested on February 17 though the incident took place on February 4 and added they are now out on bail. He also stated that the bail copy does not mention that the accused were involved in an ‘atrocity case.’
The DYSP assured the Byra community members to consider their grievances and try to redress the same.