Prosecution sanctioned against 6 accused

BENGALURU:The state government has cleared the decks for the police to file chargesheet in connection with the foiled ‘police mutiny’ in 2016 that had embarrassed the government and have sanctioned prosecution against six persons including three policemen. Interestingly, the investigating agency is said to have found evidences against a retired Director General of Police in the case but has stated that it would review the charges against him separately.

Thousands of policemen had reportedly planned to go on mass leave on June 4, 2016 to pressurise the government to fulfil their various demands.It was alleged that V Shashidhar, the founder president of Akhila Karnataka Police Maha Sangha and a dismissed police constable, was leading the movement. The development had sent the government into a tizzy and ESMA Act was invoked to prevent a complete breakdown of law and order in the state. Acting swiftly, the Yalahanka New Town police raided the house of Shashidhar in the wee hours of June 2 and arrested him. Another dismissed constable, Basavaraj Hanumanthappa Koravar, was also arrested in Dharwad.

The case was investigated by the then DCP (Crime) of Bengaluru city and submitted report stating that the first three accused — Shashidhar, Basavaraj, and Gurupadaiah Matad, husband of a woman police constable in Davanagere — despite knowing that the policemen should not go on strike and its repercussions, had instigated the police to take casual leave on June 4, 2016 and participated in the strike. They allegedly spread the message through social networking sites, telephones and handbills.

The other three accused constables — Manjunatha of Honnali station in Davanagere, Dhananjay of Mico Layout station in Bengaluru and Shivappa S Mahashetti of Alamatti station in Vijayapura — had taken leave on that particular day though ESMA Act was in force and took park in the protest, the report stated.
Further, it was established that a retired DGP was in touch with the accused persons and had conspired to instigate constables to go on strike, and the other accused persons had confessed this during the departmental enquiry.

The state government has now sanctioned prosecution against the accused persons excluding the retired DGP, citing that the charges against him has to be reviewed separately. The accused persons will be chargesheeted now under various sections of the IPC including sedition, and under the provisions of the Karnataka Essential Services Maintenance Act and the Police (Incitement of Disaffection) Act.