Home Ministry urged to set up NIA office in Mangaluru

It is needed to keep an eye on jihadi elements: Karandlaje

Shobha Karandlaje

Shobha Karandlaje, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP, on Tuesday urged the Union Home Ministry to open an office of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Mangaluru.

In a letter to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, copies of which were released to the press here, Ms. Karandlaje said that in her earlier letter to Mr. Singh on July 8, she had explained in detail the spate of stabbing incidents in Dakshina Kananda district, which had resulted in the death of 23 activists belonging to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other Hindu organisations.

Ms. Karandlaje said: “The situation in and around Mangaluru, the district headquarters of Dakshina Kannada, continues to remain tense, volatile and precarious. An eerie silence prevails. There is fear and anxiety in the countenances of the people. It looks like Mangaluru and surrounding places are sitting on a powder keg.”

The atmosphere needs to be rectified by taking some dynamic and pro-active measures that would infuse a sense of confidence and trust among people. This was possible only if two steps were taken — first, the perpetrators of heinous crimes should be arrested and punished according to law, and, second, by identifying and apprehending potential culprits, before they indulged in violence, she said.

But these two steps could become a reality only if an office of the NIA was opened in Mangaluru. Such an office would help the sleuths to monitor the movement of jihadi elements not only in Mangaluru and Dakshina Kannada but also the entire coastal region, including Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district.

“I am given to understand that jihadi elements are making an influx to Mangaluru from Kerala through Kasaragod. Middle-level police officers have confided this with me on the condition of anonymity. I think the NIA also needs to keep an eye on this important dimension in the fight against terror,” she said.

Mr. Singh should take necessary steps to set up an office of the NIA in Mangaluru, Ms. Karandlaje said.