MANGALURU: The Congress government in Karnataka has dumped the proposal to shift the Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police (SP) office from Mangaluru to Puttur.
In 2020, then Puttur MLA Sanjeeva Matandoor of BJP proposed to shift the SP office to Puttur. He had claimed that the then-home minister Basavaraj Bommai had agreed to the proposal. He had said that over 19 acres of land had been reserved in three different parts of Puttur town to shift the SP and DAR offices and to establish police quarters. According to him, the SP office in Puttur will enable quick response to law and order issues as all borders of Dakshina Kannada police jurisdiction will be within 50-60 km.
On the other hand, he said that it would take a lot of time for the SP and DAR cops to reach Sullia or Subramanya which is 100 km away from Mangaluru city. The SP office is presently located here.
At the recent legislature session, MLC Ivan D'Souza sought to know the difficulties in shifting the SP office to Puttur despite a decision being made to this effect.
In his reply, Home Minister G Parameshwara categorically said that neither any decision has been taken to shift the SP office to Puttur nor there is any such proposal before the government. He also said that no land had been identified to shift the SP office.
In the interest of law and order, the minister said the DySP office is functioning from Puttur with jurisdiction over Puttur, Sullia and Kadaba taluks while another DySP office is functioning from Bantwal with jurisdiction over Bantwal and Belthangady.
He said since the Deputy Commissioner's office, Zilla Panchayat, offices of backward classes, social welfare and other departments are also functioning from Mangaluru, it would be convenient for the people from the district if the SP office is situated in Mangaluru.
"Besides, it would be helpful for the top officials to hold discussions and meetings in times of emergency. The shifting of the SP office outside Mangaluru will be helpful only if other district-level offices are shifted as well," he said.
Further, the minister stated that the SP offices in Hubballi-Dharwad, Mysuru, Belagavi and Kalburgi are also located within the city police commissioner's limits.
Matandoor argued that unlike other SP offices situated in the jurisdiction of city police commissioner limits, the Mangaluru SP office is not centrally located. “In those cities, the district headquarters are located at the centre of the district whereas in DK, it is at one corner,” he said. He said during a discussion, former DG&IGP and ADGP L&O had also backed his proposal stating Puttur is an ideal place to have an SP office.