BELAGAVI: Home Minister G Parameshwara has sought the IGP and SP of Belagavi to immediately furnish a report, clarifying why a POCSO case was filed against the KSRTC bus conductor who was assaulted by a group of Marathi-speaking people in Balekundri for asking a passenger to speak in Kannada.
He said he also sought a report on the assault that took place on the conductor while he was discharging his duty on a bus from Belagavi to Balekundri.
The Home Minister sought the reports soon after the transfer of Marihal Station Police Inspector Gururaj Kalyanshetti for filing a POCSO case against the conductor Mahadev Hukkeri.
Parameshwara said his department had granted permission to the Kannada organisations to stage protests on Tuesday and the organisations should protest peacefully. "The department has warned the protesting organisations of taking legal action if they resort to violence,'' he said.
The Home Minister said the bus service from Karnataka to Maharashtra and back had been halted due to the volatile situation on the border. As soon as the situation got normal, the bus services between the two states would be restored, he assured.
The Kannada organisations stepped up pressure on the state government demanding stringent action against the group of Marathi-speaking people from Balekundri district who assaulted a KSRTC bus conductor for asking a passenger to speak in Kannada when his bus was halted in Balekundri, near Belagavi, a few days ago.
Meanwhile, under pressure from Kannada organisations, the police department transferred Marihal Station Police Inspector Gururaj Kalyanshetti to file a POCSO case against the bus conductor Mahadev Hukkeri a day after the assault took place.
Sources said the police department had already withdrawn the POCSO case, reportedly on the request made by the complainant, the minor girl who was travelling in the bus.
Under the leadership of KRV President Narayangowda, a large number of Kannada activists took out a rally in Belagavi demanding the externment of Marathi miscreants who assaulted the conductor and questioned DC's alleged soft corner towards MES in Belagavi.
They told DC Mohammad Roshan to stop going soft towards MES leaders and said the DC should flatly deny the Marathi people's demand in Belagavi for furnishing official documents in Marathi to the Marathi people.
Video-conference of Karnataka-Maharashtra officials
Belagavi DC Mohammad Roshan held a video-conference with Kolhapur DC and SP to restore the bus services between the two states.
The DC said the Karnataka government buses were taking passengers up to the Maharashtra border and appealed to the authorities of Maharashtra to arrange the latter's buses to take them into the neighbouring state.
The DC asked the Maharashtra officials to initiate action against miscreants in Maharashtra who have damaged the Karnataka government buses in the last two days, while adding that the state's authorities already took action against those who damaged the Maharashtra buses in Karnataka.
He said the government here would issue directives with regard to the restoration of the bus services between the two states in the next two days.
He asked the Maharashtra officials to ensure safety of the Karnataka buses which were moving to various areas of the neighbouring Solapur and Sangli districts of Maharashtra.
'Don't provide government documents in Marathi'
The KRV President Narayanagowda has warned Belagavi DC Mohammad Roshan not to heed to the demands of MES and said furnishing details to the Marathi people in the Marathi language in Belagavi would make an adverse impact on the boundary dispute case between the two states which was pending before the Supreme Court.
He said Belagavi was the integral part of Karnataka and could never be separated.
The MES had already lost its existence in Karnataka and the people had rejected it.
