The Karnataka Dalita Sangharsha Samiti (Ambedkarvada) alleged that police officers in Narona station in Kalaburagi district meted out discrimination against Dalits.
Addressing a press conference in Kalaburagi on Monday, Arjun T. Gobburkar, State convener of the organisation, said that the Narona police arrested Dalits in a case but did not arrest the ‘upper castes’ accused in another case.
As per the information he provided, Bhimsha, a Dalit youth who was working as a computer operator at Kere Ambalaga Gram Panchayat, was fired from his job. When he and his father, along with others, objected to it, gram panchayat president Bommalinga Biradar and his brothers attacked the former.
Both parties clashed with each other and two First Information Reports were registered in the Narona police station – one against Mr. Biradar and others and the other against Mr. Bhimsha and others.
But the police arrested Mr. Bhimsha and his father only and did not take any action against Mr. Biradar and the others, he alleged.
“The case against Mr. Biradar and others is more serious as it was registered under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 apart from various IPC sections. Yet, the accused have not been arrested even two weeks after the attack on the Dalits. But the police took much interest in arresting Mr. Bhimsha and his father as they were voiceless Dalits,” Mr. Gobburkar said.
He also alleged that Basavaraj Mattimadu, MLA for Kalaburagi Rural, had forced the police officers to act against Dalits and to protect the so-called ‘upper castes’.
“We request Isha Pant, Superintendent of Police, to intervene in the issue and ensure that the ‘upper castes’ are also arrested. Let the police treat all as equal, just as the law does,” he said, notifying the police of his organisation’s agitation outside SP office scheduled for October 18, if Mr. Biradar and the others are not arrested.
