Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore   

Our hands are tied, say police

By Anil Sastry

BANGALORE MARCH 21. The City police, who have been victims of recurring attacks by some sections of society in the recent past, say they are being restrained from containing the menace due to political interference. They state that the increased attacks were due to the feeling among the minorities that police cannot take any action against them due to the political interference.

Friday's incident where a minority group attacked the policemen with weapons, which left three injured, and went on a rampage in the City Market area, is the third such incident in a month.

The Ashoknagar police inspector, a sub-inspector, a police jeep driver, and some policemen were seriously injured in Anepalya last month when they were attacked by a group of minorities. In another incident at Gangondanahalli in Chandra Layout police station limits last month, a police jeep was set on fire and the police inspector attacked.

While the Anepalya incident was the result of a communal clash, the Gangondanahalli incident was the result of a dispute among two groups on the ownership of a place of worship.

Police point out that politicians, who interfered in the Gangondanahalli incident, raised a hue and cry that innocent people had been booked. They claim that the leaders were exerting pressure on the top police brass to close the case and release the accused.

They say that some police officers, who checked the communal violence in D.J. Halli police station limits after India's victory over Pakistan in the World Cup Cricket, have been served with memos. "This was the certificate for containing the violence," the officers rued.

Increased political interference will only result in deterioration of the morale among the police personnel and can lead to serious law and order problems in the State, they feel, and wonder how the Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, and the Home Minister, Mallikarjun Kharge, who claim to have given full support to the police to maintain law and order, could allow such an interference.

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