Furious Dalits organize dharna at police commissioner’s office

Furious Dalits organize dharna at police commissioner’s office

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Feb 26, 2012: The Dalit community expressed their unhappiness by organizing a one-hour dharna at the venue of the monthly meeting of Dalits arranged by the police department in the Mangalore police commissioner’s office on Feb 26 Sunday. 

Complaining that they do not get justice in spite of voicing their woes at these monthly meetings, they stated that assault on Dalits is on the increase throughout the district and that the police are not taking any action against the offenders. 

Further complaining that the police are giving B reports even after receiving their complaints, they alleged that the Bajrang Dal is influence the police department and that, under these circumstances, these monthly meetings are pointless. 

Speaking on the occasion Dalit leaders Lingappa Nanthoor, S. P. Anand, and others alleged that former ACP Ravindra Gadadi has become the victim of a conspiracy and has been deliberately rendered powerless. In response to this allegation, DCP (crime) Dharmaiah said that this was a departmental issue, which had nothing to do with the Dalit community, and urged the Dalit leaders to focus on issues concerning Dalits only. He also said that everybody is considered equal in the police department and that there are no separate rules for any community although police officers are appointed under the SC/ST quota. 

Furious Dalits then organized a dharna alleging that issues raised during the previous meeting still remained unresolved. Listing out the unresolved issues, they said that Sunitha of Harekala has been missing from the past 4 months and that the police have failed to crack this case. They further alleged that Bharathi, the sub inspector of Pandeshwar Police Station, barged into a Dalit house and harassed a Dalit woman and that no action has been taken against SI Bharathi although the issue was raised during the previous meeting. 

DCP Dharmaiah then advised the community leaders that they were free to move court if they felt that the police department was not handling their cases effectively. 

DCP (law and order), Inspectors Thilakchandra, Anantha Padmanabha, Ramesh Nayak, ACP T. R. Jagannath, and many other police officers were present at this meeting, which is held every month between the Dalit community and the police department.