India News | “Note Down Names of Police Officers Committing Atrocities”: HD Kumaraswamy's Message to JDS Workers
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Union Minister and JD(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy on Wednesday urged party workers to note down the names of police officers allegedly committing atrocities during searches, warning that those acting beyond the law would have to face consequences when his party returns to power.
New Delhi [India], October 28 (ANI): Union Minister and JD(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy on Wednesday urged party workers to note down the names of police officers allegedly committing atrocities during searches, warning that those acting beyond the law would have to face consequences when his party returns to power.
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Kumaraswamy alleged that police officers were acting under political pressure and intimidating JD(S) workers. He asked party workers not to be afraid of the police and urged them to respect officers who work within the law.
“JDS workers need not be afraid. Do not fear the police officers who are harassing you. Note down the name of the officers who are acting illegally in your house, succumbing to political pressure. Time itself will answer them," he said.
“What are the police officers doing? It is known under whose pressure they are working arbitrarily. Workers need not be intimidated. At the most, one more year. Then we ourselves will come to power. Then we will settle accounts. But respect the officers who work for the people without violating the law," he further said.
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Referring to Chief Minister DK Shivakumar's remarks on time answering for everything, Kumaraswamy said the same principle would apply to officers and politicians who allegedly violated the law.
“The present Chief Minister repeatedly says time will answer for everything. We too will have a time. That time itself will answer such officers and politicians. Every officer who acts beyond the law is awaiting due punishment. Whether they are in service or retired at home, they will have to pay the price,” the minister warned directly.
Kumaraswamy also alleged that the state government was conducting a predetermined investigation through a select group of officers. He claimed that two to three honest officers associated with the investigation had already expressed their unwillingness to participate in what he described as an unjust probe.
He criticised Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge, alleging that the police department was being misused for political purposes. Kumaraswamy further cited the Congress's defeat in all four seats in the Legislative Council election as a response to what he termed the Home Minister's misrule and misuse of power.
“Congress's defeat in all four seats of the Legislative Council election is the answer to this Home Minister's misrule and misuse of power. Making the police department a puppet and making them dance to his tunes,” Kumaraswamy lashed out at Priyank Kharge.
He also referred to a notice issued to JD(S) worker Chandan on Tuesday, alleging that the police had been searching for him illegally even before the notice was issued.
“As I said before coming to Delhi, I told the Home Minister that I will come back after five days and raise my voice against you. Some were saying why Kumaraswamy has not been speaking for three days. I think they have now got the answer,” he said.
Kumaraswamy directly questioned Priyank Kharge over the alleged sting operation and demanded an investigation into the people behind it.
“The woman leader of Congress who was appointed as the chairperson of the Women and Child Rights Protection Committee in June 2015 during Siddaramaiah's government itself is the main mastermind of this entire conspiracy.”
He questioned why no investigation had been initiated against those allegedly involved in a 2023 incident in which, he claimed, one young woman was used to entrap another person associated with a private television channel and record a video.
“Why is there no investigation into those who, in 2023, using one young woman, made another young woman sit and instigated to trap a person from a private channel and got a video recorded?”
Kumaraswamy further alleged that the person who recorded the video had confessed to doing so but was being allowed to move freely, while the government was allegedly protecting those involved in spreading false news.
The Union Minister also accused the police of misconduct during a search at the residence of Mohan Gowda, a JD(S) worker associated with the party's war room.
According to Kumaraswamy, police entered Gowda's house in his absence, assaulted his wife, pushed her and forcibly took her mobile phone despite her request to consult a lawyer first.
“Police barged into the house of Mohan Gowda, a worker who works in the JDS war room, in the name of a search warrant when he was not there. They made an inhuman assault on his wife, pushed her and tried to snatch her mobile. Even when she said she would give the mobile after consulting a lawyer, they forcibly snatched the mobile. I have also seen the visuals of what all happened there," he said.
Kumaraswamy alleged that police subsequently registered a false case accusing Gowda's wife of stealing a police officer's chain, which he claimed had fallen during the incident.
“Keeping the chain that fell during the police's pushing itself as front, overnight they registered a false FIR that the woman stole the chain of the police officer. Our workers themselves took the chain that had fallen in the house and honestly handed it over to Badarahalli police station the next morning; still they got news written in newspapers as 'Chain theft by women' and spread false news on TVs and character-assassinated a respectable family. Days will come when that woman officer will have to repent," he further said.
Kumaraswamy also raised questions about the death of television channel employee Vicky, also identified as Vikas, who allegedly fell from the fourth floor of the channel's premises around one year and three months ago.
He questioned the circumstances surrounding the death and alleged that the police had played a role in covering up the case. He called for an impartial investigation into the incident.
“Did Vicky fall by himself into the lift well from the fourth floor or was he pushed? How did only he fall down while another person who was with him remained unharmed? Broadcasting all concocted stories in the channel, the visual of falling into the lift well has been edited. Shouldn't the visual have been broadcast as it is?”
He added, “I will not leave this case here.”
The Union Minister also questioned the government's response to allegations of inappropriate behaviour with women inside a police office, claiming that the authorities were protecting those associated with the television channel.
Kumaraswamy further alleged that the ongoing controversy was part of an internal political conspiracy involving Priyank Kharge, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Siddaramaiah.
He claimed that the objective was not merely to target him but also to damage Siddaramaiah's political image over an alleged past dispute involving the Chief Minister's post.
“To avenge the old enmity of the family that Siddaramaiah was responsible for his father Mallikarjun Kharge missing the CM post earlier, weaving this case in the name of Kumaraswamy and finally trapping Siddaramaiah himself is the internal conspiracy hatched by the Kharge family along with the present CM.”
Kumaraswamy also referred to media reports alleging that CCB officers had faced questions over the direction of the investigation when they approached former chief ministers to explain the probe.
Reiterating that he had committed no wrongdoing, Kumaraswamy said he was fighting to restore accountability and protect the truth in the state's public system.
“I have not made any mistake. It is you who have made a mistake. I am fighting to cleanse the public system of the state, which has been spoiled, and for the survival of truth. There is an invisible divine power behind us to protect truth and dharma. No one can suppress Kumaraswamy's voice. The time will come soon when the mouths of opponents will be permanently shut,” warned the Union Minister. (ANI)
(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)