An eerie silence prevailed at Mannenahalli in Mulbagal taluk of Kolar district after the Dalits and ‘upper caste’ Hindus clashed over a couple of Dalit families using water from a particular tank.
The Nangali police have registered a case under section 124/15 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act following a complaint filed by Dalit farmer H. Srinivas alias Seenappa.
Additional Superintendent of Police P.A. Koravar said that Mr. Srinivas and his brother-in law Mohan were reportedly using water from a small tank in the village for their potato crop.
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When they were working in the field, 15 members of Changalaraya Reddy’s family from the same village gathered and objected to this, triggering a brawl between them. Two sons of Mr. Srinivas were injured, he said. The caste Hindus have dumped an irrigation motor in the tank and spoiled the crop, Mr. Srinivas said. He also said in the complaint that the caste Hindus had set his house on fire.
Assistant Commissioner C.N. Manjunath, Taluk Social Welfare Officer D. Narasimhappa and other officials visited the site.
A fact-finding delegation, comprising a number of organisations led by CPI (M) district secretary Gandhinagar Narayanaswamy, also visited the village on Sunday and spoke to the Dalit families.
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Police security has been tightened in the village, Mr. Koravar told The Hindu on Monday. “Complaints have been received from both sides,” he said.
The problem over using tank water had cropped up in the past too. Had the administration taken proper steps to solve it then itself, the incident would not have recurred.
Gandhinagar NarayanaswamyCPi(M) Kolar district secretary