Shivamogga geologist files complaint; police arrest three persons

The Bhadravathi police in Shivamogga district on Tuesday arrested three people on charges of obstructing a government official from discharging her duties and threatening her.

The arrested are Ajay, 28, Ravi, 38, and Mahesh, 34. A few more people are said to have been involved in the offence.

K.K. Jyothi, a geologist of the Mines and Geology Department, met the police earlier in the day and filed the complaint alleging that a group of people obstructed her from discharging her duties while she conducted a raid on an illegal river sand mining spot at Seegebage on Sunday. The police booked the case under relevant sections of BNS 2023.

Shivamogga SP G.K. Mithun Kumar told The Hindu that the police registered the case as per the officer’s complaint. Asked if she mentioned the name of the person who spoke to her in an abusive language over the phone, in the complaint, the SP said that the complainant did not mention the name of the person. “She said that she did not know who was on the phone and stated that he used abusive language and his voice was not clear,” the SP said.

The SP has entrusted Bhadravathi Dy. SP to probe the case.

A video clip showing a person scolding the officer had gone viral. The person on the phone is said to be a family member of the ruling party MLA. During her visit, the people at the spot called someone on the phone and made him talk to the official by switching on the loudspeaker.

Demand

Earlier in the day, Shivamogga MLA S.N. Channabasappa of the BJP has demanded the arrest of the person accused of scolding the government official.

In a press conference in Shivamogga on Tuesday, Mr. Channabasappa said the police should have lodged the complaint suo motu soon after the video went viral and arrested the people who obstructed the government official from discharging her duties and scolded her. The police had failed to take action against the accused.

He wanted to know why Home Minister G. Parameshwara had been silent on the issue. Workers of the BJP staged a protest in Bhadravathi on Tuesday demanding action against the accused.