Top cop accused of anti-dalit stand

T Narsipur, April 1, DHNS :

A meeting of dalit leaders and officers convened by Deputy Commissioner Harsh Gupta to restore peace in the clash-hit Algud village in the taluk on Friday, saw dalit leaders holding Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) P Venkataswamy responsible for the incident.

Dalit leaders blamed the top cop who also holds additional charge as SP. The leaders alleged that “the officer always filed a counter case whenever clashes erupted in the village. In Thursday’s incident too, the victims, dalits have been charged.” They demanded his transfer. They also raised slogans against the ASP who was present at the meeting. However, the officer refuted the charges and said that he had acted within the ambit of law. Earlier, the deputy commissioner informed the gathering that two separate cases have been registered. Eight people have been accused in the clash, and 37 for stoning the cops. The deputy commissioner, along with IGP (Southern range),  Amar Kumar Pandey inspected the houses that were damaged in the clash. A total of 24 houses have been damaged in the clash that triggered off when a dalit youth abused Nayaka community people during Mariyamma Jatre on Thursday. Two persons who suffered injuries in the incident are undergoing treatment at K R Hospital, while another two are admitted at T Narsipur Government Hospital.