Lawyers' attack: CM denies report about cop's death

March 2, 2012

Bangalore, March 2: Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Friday evening denied media reports about the death of a policeman in the advocates' attack in city court.

Most of the Kannada TV channels had earlier claimed that a constable attached to Viveknagar police station died of injuries in Bowing Hospital following attack by the advocates this afternoon. The journalists had assembled to cover former minister G Janardhana Reddy's court proceedings.

Even as the tension escalated following the unruly behaviour of advocates, home minister RAshoka led a team of officials including chief secretary S V Ranganath and DG&IG Shankar M Badari to hold discussion with chief justice ofKarnataka high court Vikaramajit Sen on the issue.

Mr Gowda in a press meet clarified that there was no loss of life in the incident. “Those who have suffered injuries have been hospitalized”, he said.

However, the CM issued a stern warning to advocates stating that no one would be spared for violating the law and order.

"I have directed chief secretary and DG&IG to submit a detailed report by 6 pm," Mr Gowda said.

Turning the city civil court near Cauvery Bhavan, a km from Vidhana Soudha, into a virtual war zone, lawyers unleashed their anger on the media by attacking them with stones, flinging chairs from the first floor of the court and even using glass tumblers as missiles, when the journalists assembled to cover former minister G Janardhana Reddy's court proceedings.

Several TV journalists were hurt in the attack with one sustaining head injuries. The cameras were smashed and OB vans stationed outside the court premises were also damaged by the lawyers. Security officials were also targeted following which the police lathi charged the belligerent advocates and fired tear gas in the court premises. The police have imposed section 144 in the cenral business district as more than 10 two-wheelers were set afire and 15 cars damaged.

Some of the advocates went to the first and third floor of the court and started flinging chairs and glass tumblers at the media. The provocation is said to be a hangover of the lawyer's ire at the media, after they went on a strike in January this year to protest against a skirmish by one of their colleague with the police who wanted to check the driving licence. The lawyers were furious as they felt the media had given a "one-sided coverage of the incident."

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

Why Mangaluru Could Become India’s Next Offshore Wind Energy Hub

News Network

February 3,2026

Dakshina Kannada MP Capt Brijesh Chowta has urged the Centre to give high priority to offshore wind energy generation along the Mangaluru coast, citing its strategic importance to India’s green energy and port-led development goals.

Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha under Rule 377, Chowta said studies by the National Institute of Oceanography have identified the Mangaluru coastline as part of India’s promising offshore wind ‘Zone-2’, covering nearly 6,490 sq km. He noted that the region’s relatively low exposure to cyclones and earthquakes makes it suitable for long-term offshore wind projects and called for its development as a dedicated offshore wind energy zone.

Highlighting the role of New Mangalore Port, Chowta said its modern infrastructure, multiple berths and heavy cargo-handling capacity position it well as a logistics hub for transporting and assembling large wind energy equipment.

He also pointed to the presence of major industrial units such as MRPL, OMPL, UPCL and the Mangaluru SEZ, which could serve as direct buyers of green power through power purchase agreements, improving project viability and speeding up execution.

With Karnataka’s peak power demand crossing 18,000 MW in early 2025, Chowta stressed the need to diversify renewable energy sources. He added that offshore wind projects in the Arabian Sea are strategically safer compared to the cyclone-prone Bay of Bengal.

Calling the project vital to India’s target of 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030, Chowta urged the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to initiate resource assessments, pilot projects and stakeholder consultations at the earliest.

Comments