Lavanya Ballal, National Social Media Coordinator of Mahila Congress, and Congress councillor from Bantwal Town Municipality Luqman Bantwal on Saturday said they will place videos of police action and of protesters before the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission on December 31.
Ms. Ballal and Mr. Luqman are among the four persons who have filed a petition before the KSHRC on December 26 demanding action against Police Commissioner P.S. Harsha and other police officers for the police firing on December 19 that resulted in death of two persons.
Speaking to reporters here on Saturday, Mr. Luqman said KSHRC chairman D.H. Waghela has asked them to come with specific instances of human rights violations during the full bench hearing of KSHRC on December 31. “We have collected videos of assault by police and also of protesters throwing stones. These videos are independent of that collected by city police. These videos are among the evidence that we will place before the commission,” he said.
‘Against the manual’
Mr. Luqman claimed he was witness to the lathi-charge on a section of people gathered at the State Bank Circle on December 19 at 2.40 p.m., which, he claimed, led to firing that claimed the lives of two people and injured 11 others.
Ms. Ballal said the city police had acted against the police manual in firing at the protesters above their waist at the first instance, without exhausting other ways to disperse them.
“As a concerned citizen, I want the KSHRC to hold an independent inquiry and take action against erring police officials. Such brutal action by police should be strongly condemned. People who have indulged in throwing stones and other objects on police should also be punished,” she said.
