Man dies in police station mysteriously
Dalit organizations stage protest
Mandya, July 13: A labourer who was brought to East police station of the city for interrogation four days ago died mysteriously in the police station on Friday.
Dalit labourer Murthy (45) of Beltur village in Maddur taluk was arrested on Monday and brought to the police station for interrogation. But on Friday, he died in the police station suspiciously. Police said that Murthy committed suicide by hanging himself. However, dalit organizations and his relatives have alleged that Murthy died because of the torture of the police.
Murthy was working as mason and the police arrested him on charges of bike theft and kept him in the police station.
DSS leaders Guruprasad Keragodu, MB Srinivas, Venkatagiri Iah, MV Krishna, SD Jayaram and others rushed to the police station and expressed their anger. They asked the police as to why they have kept the person in the police station for four days. They alleged that the police have deliberately not produced him before the court. He was killed by the police, they alleged.
Judge visits station
Following the death of Murthy, principal district and sessions court judge Jyothi visited the police station and got information. Later, the body was sent to district hospital for postmortem.
DSS leaders and his relatives who staged a protest in front of the mortuary, demanded suspension of the police officers of the station and demanded suitable compensation to the family members of the deceased. They also demanded autopsy in front of the district judge.
Puttaramanna, relative of Murthy, said that Murthy was working as mason. He had three girl children. He was not involved in any theft case. “I have been visiting the police station for the last three days. But the police were telling that they have not arrested Murthy. But today, the police said that he committed suicide at the police station. Murthy died because of the torture of the police”, he said.
“Last Monday, the police have brought three of us including Murthy to the police station. During interrogation, they were beating us. Later, I was produced before the court and I have got the bail. But I don’t know anything about the death of Murthy”, said Nagaraj of Antarahalli, who was also arrested along with Murthy.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
