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Senior Karnataka police officer Narayana V Baramani has requested for a voluntary retirement, citing public humiliation by state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Baramani, Additional Superintendent of Police (SP), Dharwad district, expressed his unwillingness to withdraw his resignation, saying that his dignity, which has been harmed following Siddaramaiah's public slap gesture, cannot be restored.
The incident occurred on April 28 in Belagavi during a Congress convention, after which Additional SP Baramani submitted his resignation on June 12.
Even as Congress assigned a senior minister to persuade the Additional SP to withdraw his resignation, the latter expressed his unwillingness.
Meanwhile, the resignation letter of Baramani surfaced on social media on July 3 and has since gone viral.
In his resignation letter addressed to the Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Home Affairs (Police Services), Government of Karnataka, Vidhana Soudha, Baramani said that he is submitting voluntary retirement due to humiliation by the Chief Minister.
"Chief Minister Siddaramaiah raised his hand at me in a threatening manner, attempting to strike me. I instinctively stepped back and narrowly avoided being slapped," the Additional SP stated.
He said that if an Additional SP have to endure such humiliation, what would be the plight of lower rank officers.
The senior police officer also spoke about the emotional toll that the incident took on him and his family. "Relatives and former colleagues have called to express their outrage. I was so distressed that I did not leave my house. My wife and children broke down in tears upon seeing me. We couldn't speak; the whole day passed in silence. Neither the Chief Minister nor any officer from his government or my department tried to console me. Even my colleagues did not express moral support or solidarity. This deepened the emotional toll," Additional SP stated.
"On June 28, I was assigned bandobast duty for a protest rally held in Belagavi by the Congress Party under the leadership of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, against the Centre's price hike policies. I was responsible for overseeing the stage security during the event, along with my subordinate officers and personnel, and I carried out the responsibility without any lapse.
When the Chief Minister began his speech and continued for around 10 minutes, a group of four to five women in the audience suddenly raised black flags and shouted slogans in protest against the Congress government. Another SP-rank officer was in charge of that area, and our staff handled the situation promptly and restored order," he stated.
"At that point, the Chief Minister looked towards the commotion and shouted angrily, "Who is this SP here?" - even though no SP-rank officer was near the stage at that time. I immediately approached the Chief Minister to clarify. As I neared him, he raised his hand at me in a threatening manner, attempting to strike me. I instinctively stepped back and narrowly avoided being slapped, the police officer's letter read.
"I felt deeply humiliated. For a moment, I wanted to confront the Chief Minister and say that what he did was wrong. But I refrained, understanding the potential public embarrassment it could cause. I chose silence. This incident was widely reported in national media and circulated heavily on social media. The incident has caused me severe mental trauma," he underlined.
The senior officer stated that even after returning to duty, the humiliation resurfaced in departmental meetings and inter-departmental interactions.
Meanwhile, a report by The Hindu cited rumours of Baramani having political ambitions, expecting a possible ticket to contest from the Belagavi North or Belagavi Rural Assembly constituency on a BJP ticket. The rumours were however dismissed by Baramani.
The cop served in the Karnataka Police Department for the past 31 years in various positions, from PSI to Additional SP.