Mangaluru cops to observe drug awareness week in dalit colonies

DCP (Crime and Traffic) Dr Sanjiv M Patil said that the Mangalore Police Commissionerate will observe a drug awareness week, which will also be organised under other police stations.

He was responding to a request by Raghuveer, a resident of the city, at the SC/ST grievance meeting at the Police Commissioner’s office in Mangaluru on Sunday.

The DCP said that the drug awareness week should be conducted in SC/ST colonies. The Commissionerate has decided to conduct the awareness week. In order to create awareness on the negative impact of drugs, narcotics and psychotropic substances, the police commissionerate will organise a run ‘Drug-free Mangaluru’ on July 1 at 6 am from Nehru Maidan.

Raghuveer further said that the new railway station, being built by Southern Railways at Kenjar – two km away from the Mangaluru International Airport, near Bajpe – should be named after Dr B R Ambedkar. The railway station falls in the administrative limits of Malavoor Gram Panchayat. The work started two years back and is almost complete.

Vishwanath, a resident of Bantwal, claimed that an automobile agency, from which he had purchased a spare part for his autorickshaw, refused to take back the spare part when he went to return it, although it was faulty. He also complained that the staff member of the agency spoke to him over phone later, saying that he was a policeman and threatened him. Vishwanath submitted a complaint on the same to the DCP.

S P Anand, Karnataka Dalita Sangharsha Samiti (Ambedkar Vada) district unit organising convenor and residents from Monkeystand Dalit colony said that, on the pretext of an investigation, police personnel have been harassing the people of the colony.

The police have taken some youth to custody and have physically tortured them, he complained.

DCP (Law and Order) Shantharaju chaired the meeting.