MANGALURU: Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC were clamped in Puttur, Belthangady, Sullia and Kadaba taluks of Dakshina Kannada for three days until Friday midnight after a PFI-SDPI protest turned violent in Uppinangady in which nine cops including an officer of DySP rank were allegedly hurt.
On Tuesday, the Uppinangady police had taken into custody three PFI-SDPI workers for interrogation with regard to a rioting case. As the news spread, scores of party workers assembled near the police station demanding their release. After some time, the police released one of the three arrested after he was interrogated.
SP Rishikesh Sonawane said the protesters who left the police station after the person's release came back after some time demanding the release of the other two also. “Despite the prohibitory orders being in place, they shouted slogans against police and mocked at them. When they tried to enter the police station with lethal weapons, woman PSI Omana and other staff tried to stop them but they were assaulted by the PFI workers. Sensing that the situation was going out of control, the cops tried to disperse the mob. It was then the mob attacked the cops with sharp weapons and soda bottles which they had carried in an ambulance,” claimed the SP.
The SP said Bantwal PSI Prasanna Kumar was stabbed in his right palm while Puttur DySP Gana P Kumar suffered an injury in the left hand in stone pelting. When the police resorted to a lathi-charge, the mob ran helter-skelter and took shelter in a nearby mosque from where they continued hurling stones and bottles on the cops. The SP said several vehicles belonging to the police and public and window panes of the police station were damaged in the incident.
Meanwhile, in a statement, SDPI DK district president Abubaker Kulai alleged that police themselves caused the tense situation by lathi-charging the PSI-SDPI workers who were peacefuly protesting and demanded a high-level inquiry into the incident by top police officers.
A delegation of MLAs from the district led by fisheries minister S Angara met home minister Araga Jnanendra and urged strict legal action on the people responsible for the Uppinangady incident. VHP leader Sharan Pumpwell demanded a ban on the PFI in the light of the incident.