Shettar demands judicial probe into police atrocities

Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar on Wednesday demanded that the state government should order a judicial probe into police atrocities on farmers in Navalgund and Nargund taluks during the Mahadayi agitation.

Shettar told reporters in Chitradurga that one could not expect the ADGP-headed committee probing the incident to do justice. This was because senior police officers were involved in the incident. So, a commission led by a High Court judge should conduct an investigation into the incident, the former chief minister said.

He said suspending a few constables was not enough. It should be ascertained as to who ordered the lathi charge on the farmers, Shettar said. The former chief minister said that his party was demanding a judicial probe as the state government was scared of the CBI.

Shettar said that a Cabinet meeting should be called and the non-bailable cases booked against farmers should be withdrawn unconditionally.

Members of the Kalasa-Banduri agitation co-ordination committee and Jaya Karnataka tried to besiege Shettar after he came out the central jail after meeting Mahadayi protesters in Ballari. But the police stopped them from doing so.

Trying to pacify the protesters, Shettar said that he would lead efforts to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi, seeking his intervention in solving the issue, if the state government co-operates.

But, before that a cordial atmosphere should be created between the governments of Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra for an out-of-court settlement of the dispute.

Shettar said that work on the project had started during the BJP regime, when canals were constructed at a cost of Rs 120 crore. After Shettar left, agitation committee convenor Mahesh Pattar said it was as if the Opposition party was dead in the state.