K. Phaniraj, vice-president of the district unit of Karnataka Komu Sauharda Vedike (KKSV), alleged on Thursday that the assault and death of the cattle trader, Hussainabba, 62, at Shenarbettu near Perdoor on May 30 had clearly brought to light the collusion between the police and the activists of Sangh Parivar in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts.
Addressing presspersons here, Mr. Phaniraj said that the KKSV had been focusing on this issue for the last 18 years.
After this collusion got exposed by the Perdoor incident, Shobha Karandlaje, MP, and other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders had started attacking the police and even alleged that Chief Minister, H.D. Kumaraswamy was involved in it. Their intention was to pressure the police and derail the investigation.
Though the elected representatives of the BJP had taken an oath to protect the Constitution, they were questioning the rule of law. They were justifying assaults and murders of cattle transporters by stating that cattle theft was the main reason for it, he alleged.
He said the KKSV did not deny incidents of cattle theft in these districts. But this did not give the right to the Sangh Parivar groups to waylaid, assault and murder the cattle transporters. “They cannot take law into their own hands. What is the police meant for?” he said.
While the police team led by Superintendent of Police, Laxman Nimbargi, had cracked the Perdoor case, there were many similar cases that had gone into cold storage due to various reasons, including destruction of evidence.
“If the Perdoor case is not to meet an end as previous such cases, the police team should be allowed to conduct its investigation without any pressure,” he said.
He added that what had been revealed by the Perdoor case was just the tip of iceberg.
The government should find out the police personnel who had a nexus with anti-social elements and set right the police system. “The Home Ministry should turn its attention here and do a constitutional surgery to the law and order machinery in the Coastal districts,” Mr. Phaniraj said. G. Rajashekhar, president of district unit of KKSV, Yaseen Malpe, William Martis, social activists, were present.