Mangaluru Police don't want the truth to be disclosed, alleges People’s Tribunal
Justice Gopal Gowda headed tribunal says Mangaluru Police interfered in its proceedings
Mangaluru: The People’ Tribunal constituted by Indian Social Institute, Bangalore, Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) Karnataka Chapter and ‘Samvidhanadha Haadiyalli’ on Wednesday evening issued a press release after they were barred from addressing press conference by the local police. The people’s tribunal headed by Justice Gopala Gowda, former Supreme Court Judge, added that the Mangaluru Police does not want the truth about the December 19 incident to come out.
The press statement added that it heard testimonies from victims and their family members, families of the deceased, journalists present at the scene of the violence and prominent members of the local community and that it will release the final report soon.
Alleging that the police interfered in the proceedings of the tribunal, it added that deliberate attempts were made by the cops to see that the truth of the incident shall not be disclosed to the public.
“The very conduct of the proceedings of this Tribunal was sought to be interfered with by the Mangalore Police Administration on multiple occasions with a deliberate intention to see that the truth of the incident shall not be disclosed to the public. On 5th January 2019, a notice was addressed to one of the organisers which sought to preclude the Tribunal from conducting any hearing on the events of 19th December. It is still unclear on what grounds the notice was issued. Despite the Organisers’ insistence that the People’s Tribunal was a civil society initiative to create a public forum where grievances could be aired by the aggrieved persons and the public, the Police authorities alleged that this process interfered with on-going legal proceedings including a magisterial enquiry. Despite the fact that permission was initially sought from the Mangalore Commissioner of Police, P.S. Harsha, a notice dated 5/01/2020 was issued by Inspector Govindraju B, Mangalore North Police Station to one of the organisers of the People’s Tribunal. This course of action has been undertaken in an arbitrary manner without the authority of law by the said Inspector” the press statement stated.
“There have been further instances of obstruction of the Tribunal’s proceedings. After the hearing commenced on 6th January 2020, it was halted for over an hour as the venue’s owner expressed his reservations with the nature of the event. He cited the aforementioned notice and stated that he was wary of reprisals from the police and other authorities.
“Once the hearing and visits were completed by the Tribunal, a Press Conference was scheduled to be held to apprise the media of the observations of the Tribunal. However, under pressure from police authorities, it has become impossible for the People’s Tribunal to hold a Press Conference at any venue at this point in time as a number of hoteliers were only willing to provide a venue for the Press Conference on the condition that the organisers obtain permission from police authorities, which is not required in law” it further added.
“The public has a right to know of matters concerning violence against civilians as the police authorities are accountable to the people with regard to the events of 19th December. Therefore, with a fair mind, we will go into the testimonies of the witnesses that we have collected and prepare a final report that will stand the test of credibility in the eyes of all the concerned with regard to the incident on 19th December” the press statement added.
The invitation to depose before the Tribunal and share their experiences was extended to not just civil society, but also to officials especially the police. On 7th January, the members of the Tribunal visited some of the victims who are currently receiving medical treatment at Highlands Hospital and Unity Hospital. The Tribunal also conducted spot visits at some of the areas that were most severely affected by the violence on the 19th of December.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
