Book rowdies under Goonda Act, deport them: George tells Mangaluru police

Mangaluru, Sep 7: Issuing a stern warning to those who indulge in rowdyism and goondaism Karnataka Home Minister K J George has said that police should be ruthless towards those who take law into their hands.

Mr George, who toured the coastal district on Monday to inaugurate a police station and a fire station at Sullia and a traffic police station in Puttur, responded to the queries of media persons after holding discussions with officers at Circuit Hose in the city.

When media persons reminded him of August 24 incident, wherein a Muslim man was stripped, tied to a pole and flogged by a bunch of Sangh Parivar activists for more than an hour at Attavar in Mangaluru, Mr George said that stringent action would be taken against such criminals.

Commending the Mangaluru city police for nabbing the accused in connection to the Attavar attack, he said that he had asked the police to prevent the recurrence of any such untoward incidents.

“Rowdyism is rowdyism. You cannot call it ‘moral policing’. Any form of rowdysim or goondaism should not be tolerated,” he said.
He said that he had directed the police that conduct an impartial probe into the Attavar attack and if necessary book all the accused under Goonda Act and expel them from the district.

CID investigation

Responding to another question on the investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) not reaching logical conclusion, Mr. George said that he would immediately review the progress of cases from Dakshina Kannada handed over to the CID.

“Normally, the government does not interfere once the cases are handed over to the CID. But as a special case, I would review the progress of the cases,” Mr. George said. At least 12 cases have been handed over to the CID from the district during the last two years and charge-sheets have not been filed in any of them yet.

The cases with the CID include the death of Rohith Radhakrishnan, student of a private medical college in the city, whose body with the head severed, was found near Thannirbavi.

On the progress of investigation of the murder of research scholar M.M. Kalburgi, Mr. George said that the government has decided to hand over the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The case appears to have inter-State ramifications and hence the decision, he said.