Even as the State government dilly-dallies on his charge sheet, Mangalore University student Vittal Malekudiya said on Sunday that his monthly routines of travelling to Venoor police station in Belthangady taluk were affecting his studies.
Airing the grievance at the monthly Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes meeting held at the office of the Superintendent of Police, Mr. Malekudiya, who was arrested on March 3, 2012 along with his father on the charge of aiding Maoists, said that it was “absurd” to spend the last Sunday of every month going to Venoor Police station when he was nearly always present in the SP office for the meetings that were attended by a dozen other police officers.
Low attendance
“For the first year, I had to go every Sunday. Now, I have to go to Venoor every last Sunday just to put a signature. How does it make sense when I put my signature in these meetings held at the SP office itself,” he asked.
Mr. Malekudiya is in the second year of his Masters in Mass Communication and Journalism course at the university. Subsequent to his four-month arrest, the resident of Kuthloor was made to repeat an academic year due to “low attendance”.
Staying in a hostel on the university premises, Mr. Malekudiya said he had to travel to first take a bus to Moodbidri, then Venoor; and on the return, may have to take multiple buses to reach his university.
“Most of the day is spent in this. It affects my studies and I have to pay more than Rs. 100 as bus fare each time,” he said.
The district police, however, said taking his signatures monthly was as per court orders, and it was only for the court to change the pattern.
