A senior Dalit leader, Devendrappa, who was also working as the Dalapathi of the Kanyakollur village in Shahapur taluk in Yadgir district, died on the spot and 15 police personnel, including a Circle Inspector of Police, suffered serious injuries in indiscriminate stone-throwing during a clash between non-Dalit and Dalit groups over a minor issue of torn banners put up by both Dalits and non-Dalits in connection with a temple fair in the village.
Devendrappa, who suffered serious head injury in the stone-throwing, died on the spot. All the 15 police personnel, who were injured, were attached to the Shahapur Town Police Station and had gone to Kanyakollur village to quell the violence.
While a stone hit Circle Inspector Nyamagowda’s nose, Sub-Inspector Doddappa suffered a head injury and his condition is said to be serious. Both Mr. Nyamagowda and Mr. Doddappa and two other police constables who received serious injuries are undergoing treatment at the Basaveshwar Teaching and General Hospital in Gulbarga. As many as 15 villagers, who also received injuries, are undergoing treatment in the government hospital at Shahapur.
The reason for the clash between the two groups was that two banners put up on the occasion of the annual Goddess Chowdeshwari Temple Fair held on January 15 had been torn up. Both the groups blamed each other and clashed in the village on Friday.
Devendrappa, who was caught in the melee, received several hits in the head and died on the spot. The police team from Shahapur town that reached the spot to check the violence were assaulted with stones and all the 15 members of the team suffered injuries. The circle inspector’s van was also damaged in the stone-throwing.
The violence at Kanyakollur had its impact in Shahapur town and Dalit leaders blocked movement of traffic on the Shahapur-Bangalore State Highway for nearly three hours with Devendrappa’s body demanding compensation of Rs. 10 lakh.
Deputy Commissioner F.R. Jamadhar, who rushed to spot, pacified the crowd and announced a compensation of Rs. 5 lakh to the family of Devendrappa and persuaded them to withdraw the agitation.
Even as the body of Devendrappa was being shifted to the government hospital, miscreants entered into the new bus stand on the outskirts of Shahapur and ransacked a shop and damaged the windowpanes of four NEKRTC buses in the bus stand.
Although the situation was under control, the police have deployed seven KSRP platoons, four DAR platoons and 400 police constables in Kanyakollur village and Shahapur town as a precautionary measure.
