BANGALORE: The government transferred five top police officers, including City Police Commissioner Raghavendra Auradkar, on Monday.
M N Reddi is the new police commissioner for Bangalore, a city rocked by incidents of rape, sexual assault, chainstaching, and murder of home-alone women.
The sexual assault on a six-year-old girl in a Marathalli school and the gang-rape of a 22-year-old student in Fraser Town had put the state government on the defensive in both Houses of the legislature.
The BJP has been demanding the resignation of Home Minister K J George. Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa had also urged the government to shake up the Home Department, and uproot officials serving in the same place for many years.
Auradkar is now Additional Director-General of Police (ADGP), Karnataka State Reserve Police, and relieves N S Megharikh of his additional charge. H C Kishore Chandra has been posted as ADGP, Law and Order, Bangalore, and Alok
Kumar becomes the Inspetor-General of Police and Additional Commissioner of Police in charge of law and order in Bangalore, replacing Kamal Pant, now Inspector-General of Police, Grievances and Human Rights, Bangalore.
The transfers were effected with a notification from by the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms.
Goonda Act Charges
The state government will amend the law to book rape suspects under the Goonda Act, which allows for easier arrest and detention.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the government was keen to instil fear among those indulging in such heinous crimes. Rapes reflect an attitude, he said, expressing anguish over a 50-year-old sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl in Haveri in northern Karnataka.
“They are unfit to be called human beings. We should collectively condemn such crimes and ensure that they get the maximum punishment,” he said.
The government has requested Karnataka High Court Chief Justice D H Waghela to expedite the setting up of 10 fast-track courts to try crimes against women, he disclosed.
The government would slap the Goonda Act againt Mustafa, the assistant skating instructor accused of sexually assaulting a six-year-old schoolgirl.