A fact-finding committee constituted by the State Congress to study the issue of the recent gang-rape near Chamundi Hills in Mysuru has blamed the State government for its failure to deploy adequate number of police and provide sufficient number of police vehicles to maintain law and order in the city.
Frequent transfer of police officials, lack of coordination between the police and other departments and deployment of police force for providing security to VIPs during their visit to Mysuru also contributed to the law and order issues, the committee said in its report submitted to the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).
The committee headed by V.S. Ugrappa, former MP, claimed that the administrative machinery in the district has collapsed owing to lack of coordination between district in-charge Minister S.T. Somashekar, Mysuru MP Pratap Simha and BJP legislators.
Focus on other issues
During interaction with the public, the people alleged that the police seemed to have been giving more priority to resolving cases related to real estate and civil matters and not much about law and order of the city.
“This has impacted the functioning of the IAS and IPS officers in Mysuru,” the report said.
Resignation sought
The committee demanded the resignation of Home Minister Araga Jnanendra, owning moral responsibility.
The committee has made several recommendations and said the police have to complete the probe and file a chargesheet in the court and ensure that the case comes up for hearing in the next five months. It recommended to the government to strengthen the police force in the city based on the city’s population and tourists’ visiting the city.
