BENGALURU: The state government said there is no need for a judicial inquiry into the alleged murder of a head constable by persons involved in sand mafia and the subsequent police firing on one of the accused in Kalaburagi district.
The BJP MLCs demanded a judicial probe, alleging that it was not a murder, but an accident and that the police encounter was a cooked-up story. Following the government’s response, the BJP members jumped into the well of the Legislative Council and staged a protest, on Monday.
BJP members Thippannappa, Shashil Namoshi, N Ravikumar and Talavar Sabanna raised the issue, alleging that there were many discrepancies in the police version. On June 15, Head Constable Mayur Chouhan was killed when he tried to stop a tractor which was allegedly transporting sand illegally, at Narayanapura village of Jewargi taluk in Kalaburagi. On June 17, the police shot at Saibanna Karajagi, a BJP worker, injuring his leg after he allegedly tried to escape from police custody.
Namoshi alleged that the policeman was not wearing a uniform and was also alleged to be drunk when the incident occurred.
“He was chasing the tractor that was being driven by Revanasiddappa Karajagi and as the trailer got separated, Chouhan came under the trailer and died. Later, the police came up with a story that there was another policeman at the spot and the accused ran the tractor on Chouhan. They also dragged the name of Karajagi’s brother, Saibanna, who was not at the spot. Two days later, they shot him and said they did so as he tried to attack police staff with a knife. Whenever an accused is taken into custody, the police check whether he is carrying any weapon. Why didn’t they do so? Moreover, the sand Karajagi was transporting was for the construction of his house,” he alleged.
The BJP further alleged that there are allegations that Chouhan went there to extort money from those involved in the sand mafia and had ‘fixed’ Saibanna in the case to cover their failure in tackling the mafia. They also took objection to not producing Saibanna before the court and shifting him to Mysuru prison.
In response, Home Minister G Parameshwara stated that policemen go in plain clothes for many operations and Chouhan, who was at a picketing point, found the tractor carrying sand and asked the driver to stop it, but the driver murdered the policeman on duty following a chase. He also defended the police firing on Saibanna, stating that he was not yet taken into custody, but was being taken for an inquiry when he attacked a sub-inspector with a knife and tried to escape.