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Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Shobha Karandlaje, has written to the Police Complaints Authority, accusing the Karnataka police of acting under political pressure from the ruling Congress government and harassing individuals associated with Hindutva organisations.
Shobha Karandlaje wrote to NK Sudhindra Rao, Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) on Tuesday, June 3, and has also sent a copy to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
“Many of those being harassed have no criminal background or history of unlawful activity. The selective nature of these actions raises serious concerns about the misuse of police force as a tool of political vendetta, which is entirely unacceptable in a democratic society governed by the rule of law,” she said, calling for an immediate and impartial inquiry into the police's actions in the coastal district.
Karandlaje said that the police actions constituted a breach of constitutional protections and a violation of the Supreme Court’s guidelines on police conduct. She urged both the PCA and the NHRC to intervene and ensure accountability.
Shobha Karandlaje has a track record of making claims that were later proved to be false. The News Minute had previously reported on this in a detailed profile of her rise to political fame with the backing of former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.
She claimed that Tamils were responsible for the blast in Rameshwar Cafe in Bengaluru in March 2024. In 2018, she claimed that 23 Hindus were killed by ‘jihadis’, which a ground report by Scroll exposed as false. Before that, she had claimed that a young man named Paresh Mesta had been killed by a Muslim group in December 2017. A CBI investigation later said he died of drowning.
The minister’s letter comes amid rising communal tensions in the region, with three murders in a month.
While activists in coastal Karnataka accused the government of dithering in handling the situation, and the police of failing to rein in communal elements, the Congress party faced internal pressure to take action.
Soon after the mob lynching of Ashraf, a delegation of Congress elected representatives at the panchayat-level met District in-Charge Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao and demanded that the government take action to curb communalism.
The murder of Abdul Rahiman on May 27, was a turning point that set off a flurry of developments which all occurred on May 29.
Several office Muslim bearers of the Congress quit their positions in the party on May 29, accusing the party of failing to take action.
That very day, the government announced the launch of a Communal Violence Control Force (CVCF), a specialised unit to curb and control communal strife in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Shivamogga districts. After this announcement, the BJP and Hindutva groups began claiming that the CVCF would target Hindu groups and individuals.
The government also replaced several police officers in Udupi and Dakshina Kananda districts on May 29. Mangaluru Police Commissioner Anupam Agrawal was replaced with Sudheer Kumar Reddy, Dakshina Kannada district SP N Yathish was shunted out and replaced by Arun K who was the Superintendent of Police of Udupi district. Hariram Shankar was brought in as Udupi district SP.
Days after the new officers took charge, the Bantwal Rural Police Station booked influential Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat.
The Dakshina Kannada district police have now prepared a list of 36 communal figures–21 Hindu and 15 Muslim–whom they will extern from the district.
A bone of contention for the BJP and Hindutva groups is the notice issued Arun Kumar Puthila, who has been served with an externment notice by the Puttur Sub-Divisional Magistrate under Section 55 of the Karnataka Police Act. In the notice, he has been asked to go to Shahabad police station limits in Kalaburagi. Puthila has been summoned to appear for a hearing on June 6, either personally or through legal counsel, failing which an ex parte decision will be made.
Reacting to the notice, Puthila accused the Congress government of “targeting Hindus” and “appeasing minority communities” and said this externment notice is yet another step in that direction. “We are actively involved in our organisation’s work, taking part in religious programmes, and are committed to activities aligned with the national ideology,” he said.