Though police personnel across the district did not go on leave as planned, civil society organisations and individuals who had announced their support to the agitation staged demonstrations here on Saturday.
At the district headquarters, over 50 activists associated with different organisations staged a flash protest at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Circle.
After paying tributes to Ambedkar, the activists, led by R. Manasayya, leader of Trade Union Centre of India; Kumar Samatala, State convener of the Karnataka Janashakti; Ashok Kumar Jain, district president of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike; and J.B. Raju, a leader of the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti raised slogans against the State government for “neglecting police constables’ just demands and covertly and overtly attempting to suppress their struggle”.
Another team of activists staged a demonstration at Basaveshwara Circle. At Sindhanur, activists associated with the Revolutionary Youth Federation staged a demonstration outside the tahshildar’s office. The police took them into custody and released them later.
Cases
The police arrested 18 activists from Ambedkar Circle and 15 from Basaveshwara Circle immediately and later booked them under Section 5 of the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA).
“Besides these incidents, the situation is normal. All the 27 police stations are functioning as usual,” Chetan Singh Rathor, Superintendent of Police, told The Hindu .
Almost all the police stations and offices of senior officials including that of the Superintendent of Police witnessed 100 per cent attendance on Saturday. In some rare cases, those who had gone on long leave much earlier for their personal reasons too returned for duty for a day.
“In my limits, an Assistant Sub Inspector had gone on a month-long leave 15 days ago. He reported to duty to show his disapproval to the agitation. He will again go on leave on Sunday on to complete his sanctioned leave,” Suresh H. Talawar, Circle Inspector attached to Yeragera Circle told The Hindu .
Though the police constables kept themselves away from strike, their family members, however, staged a peaceful demonstration at their locality. They submitted a memorandum with a list of demands to Mr. Rathor.
