Mangalore, January 17: In an alleged case of abuse of power, the Police Inspector of Bajpe station and his colleagues have caned the president of the Panchayat and several schoolchildren who were demanding erecting a hump on the road in front of their school.
The schoolchildren injured in the incident have been identified as Shalim (13), son of Moidin from Bajpe, Ismail Shafeek (13), son of Abdul Khader, Nabeel (13), son of Rafeek, Naeem Hussan, son of Rasheed from Kaikamba, Saheera Anay (11) son of Shareef from Sunkadakatte, Pavan (11), son o fNatash from Batrakere. The injured are Class 6,7, and 8 students.
The children have suffered injuries on their hands and legs two of them have marks of blood-clotting.
Gram Panchayat President Shahul Hameed (29) and contractor Nisar, a resident of Bajpe, have also been assaulted and are undergoing treatment at a hospital in Mangalore.
MLAs Abhayachandra Jain and U.T. Khader visited the hospital and inquired the health of the injured.
Inspector Dinakar, however, denied allegations of assault and insisted that no lathicharge was carried out on the protesters. “The children were made to sit on dharna on the road from 11am to 2pm. The vehicular traffic on the road had been badly disrupted. We had to forcibly evict the protesters. In their bid to flee the place they might have tripped and injured themselves,” Mr. Dinakar said of the incident on Monday.
Two complaints have been registered in Bajpe police station in connection with the incidents on Monday. According to a complaint filed by Taluk Panchayat member Jokin D'Costa, a speed-breaker was put up on front of Bajpe town masjid by Gram Panchayat president Shahul Hameed, member Nisar and Asif without obtaining required permission. The hump was removed by the staff of PWD on the ground that it was illegally constructed. However, the three persons, using this as pretext hurled abuses against me and assaulted me, D'Costa said in his complaint.
According to another complaint filed by Inspector Dinakar Shetty himself, Shahul Hameed and his brothers along with school correspondent Sharief have been named as the accused. They have been accused of blocking the movement of vehicles by provoking children to sit across the road. When the police was trying to convince the schoolchildren, the accused resorted to stone-pelting resulting in injuries to the sub-inspector Ananth Murdeshwar and constable Suresh, according to the complaint.
However, Azeez, the joint secretary of the Ansar Educational Institution, denied the allegation and said, no stones were thrown at the police and only after the lathicharge, some unknown miscreants hurled a stone at the jeep, but there had been no damage to the vehicle. He also maintained that the number of schoolchildren present in the protest was less than 20. “They had been curious onlookers. If we had the intention of staging a protest, we would have made all the 750 children squat on the road,” Mr. Aziz said.
Meanwhile reacting to the incident, MLA Khader regretted that the police were opposing the construction of humps, which is a safety requirement. “The police have aggravated the problem by unnecessary interfering in an issue, which should have been sorted out by Panchayat office-bearers, members and the people of the town. He also demanded suspension of the police personnel who allegedly lathicharged the children.
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