Advocates in the taluk court of Gokak town abstained from work on Tuesday in protest against an attempt to set the Bar association room on fire on Monday night. The protest affected court work, and litigants and those who had come to give evidence in various cases were inconvenienced.
The alleged attempt to set the room on fire came to light on Tuesday morning when a worker came for routine cleaning. He saw that a portion of the wooden doorframe was blackened with soot and a PVC pipe near the doorframe was partially burnt.
No evidence was found at the spot to suggest the use of petrol or kerosene bomb, Gokak Town police sub-inspector D.K. Patil said.
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Advocates expressed doubts about the involvement of Praveen Gosbal, one of the 37 accused in the 2007 communal riot case in Gokak town and who was involved in a brawl with the court’s watchman on Monday evening. After this, the police took him into custody and are questioning him.
Mr. Patil said Praveen, who had come to the court to attend the case on Monday afternoon, had parked his motorcycle at the gate of the court premises. On noticing that the two-wheeler was parked in a no-parking area, the watchman deflated one of the tyres. Praveen later picked up a quarrel with the watchman and even bashed him up.
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‘Compromise’
Soon, members from the legal fraternity came to the watchman’s help. They took both the watchman and Praveen to the Bar association room, where a “compromise” was struck between them, but only after the watchman settled his score.