BENGALURU/HASSAN: Two senior political leaders, former PM HD Deve Gowda and senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, on Friday demanded a judicial probe into the violence on Tuesday night, targeting Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy’s residence and police stations in Bengaluru.
Gowda told reporters in Hassan that the probe should be headed by a sitting High Court judge, who can be assisted by the Central Crime Branch. He was speaking after participating in a protest against amendments to the Land Reforms Act, APMC Act and Industrial Disputes Act.
Gowda said the government should take action against the accused and political leaders should stop making allegations against each other. On the demand to ban the SDPI, Gowda said it is the government’s decision.
Kharge echoed Gowda’s sentiments. “To ensure a fair and impartial probe to find out reasons for the incident and organisations involved, a judicial probe is better,” he said, adding that an officer of the rank of district magistrate may find it difficult to conduct the probe. Condemning the incident, Kharge said party politics should be kept out, the MLA should be given protection and the government must instill confidence in people.
SDPI demands court-monitored probe
The SDPI, allegedly responsible for the riots, has also demanded an inquiry by a sitting judge of the Karnataka High Court. Party state president Ilyas Mohammed Thumbe told media on Friday, “We want a sitting High Court judge to head the inquiry, which should be supervised by the High Court.
An impartial judicial probe should be held.” He also alleged that P Naveen, who was arrested for a derogatory social media post, has close ties with BJP leaders. Vested interests orchestrated the riots to create a rift between Muslims and Dalits and divide the vote bank, Thumbe added.