MADIKERI: Fifteen villagers staying at the Valmiki Bhavan relief centre in Kushalnagar were on Friday taken into custody by the Kushalnagar police in the case related to the attack on a tahsildar. “They have been arrested after video clippings showed them assaulting Somwarpet taluk tahsildar Mahesh on Tuesday night (September 18). A criminal case has been registered against the culprits,” confirmed Superintendent of Police Suman Pannekar.
The SP said that the assault took place at the relief centre after the villagers objected to the act of nodal officers stopping direct distribution of relief products at the relief centre. “The situation was brought under control.
However, on receiving information of outsiders staying at the relief centre, the tahsildar went there to check the attendance register when he was assaulted by the enraged villagers,” she said.A thorough investigation was carried out in this regard by DySP Muralidhar and SI Jagadish, and the culprits were identified with the help of video clippings and later arrested. Those who have been taken into custody include villagers from Makkanduru and Haleri, including two women.
When questioned about the allegation of the tahsildar attacking the victims, the SP dismissed this and said, “The video clearly reveals that the group of villagers attacked him and the tahsildar was pushing them away in self defence.” The SP brushed aside the accusations of the tahsildar misbehaving with women at the relief centre and said, “Women police were on duty at the relief centre and no such behaviour has been reported.”
Meanwhile, State Farmers Association office bearer D S Nirvanappa, who had threatened to hold a protest for arresting the villagers, was on Friday taken to 15-day preventive custody as a precautionary measure. Karnataka Farmers Association district president S R Manjunath has, however, warned of holding agitation across the district demanding immediate release of the arrested villagers.