Karnataka government to establish 33 Special Police Stations for SC/ST atrocity cases
Bengaluru: The Karnataka government announced on Thursday the establishment of 33 police stations dedicated to handling cases of atrocities against Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) communities. This initiative is aimed to improve the efficiency of investigations and increase the currently low conviction rates for such cases.
The state government plans to fill 450 vacancies in these new stations to ensure they operate effectively. This move is part of a broader effort to enhance the enforcement of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989.
Karnataka joins states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Kerala, which have already implemented similar measures. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah previously highlighted this initiative in his 2023-24 budget, focusing on strengthening the Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement.
The state Cabinet has approved the creation of one special police station per district, with Bengaluru receiving two. Each station will be headed by an IPS officer of the rank of Deputy Superintendent or Assistant Commissioner of Police. The total expenditure for establishing and maintaining these stations is estimated to be around Rs 73 crore annually.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil, speaking after the Cabinet meeting, noted that local police forces are currently overburdened with various responsibilities, including law and order maintenance, traffic control, providing security to dignitaries, and election duties. This workload has adversely affected the efficiency of police investigations, particularly in cases of atrocities against SC/ST communities.
Minister Patil emphasized that the new specialized police stations would ensure quicker and more focused investigations of atrocity cases. He acknowledged the low conviction rates, citing that out of 7,633 registered cases since 2022, only 1,723 had been disposed of, with 1,363 acquittals and just 68 convictions—a mere 4 percent conviction rate.
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Police inspector suspended over 'involvement' in honour killing in Andhra's' Palnadu dt
Macherla (Andhra Pradesh) (PTI): A police inspector was suspended on Sunday over his alleged involvement in an alleged honour killing of a woman in a village under Macherla in Palnadu district, a senior police official said.
According to police, the woman, identified as Chowdeshwaramma, was in a relationship with Nagaraj, both belonging to the same community, and had eloped earlier.
"A police inspector was suspended following allegations of involvement in an honour killing case, including suspected monetary transactions with the victim's family," the official told PTI.
Police said the couple had approached the police station after eloping, where the woman's parents assured that they would conduct her marriage with Nagaraj, following which she returned home.
However, after a few days, when the family allegedly did not show interest in conducting the marriage, the woman expressed her intention to go back with the man again, he said.
Subsequently, she was found dead, with the family initially claiming that she died by hanging and filing a complaint accordingly.
The postmortem report later revealed that the woman was murdered by strangulation, contradicting the family's claim, police said.
Allegations later surfaced that the inspector had taken money from the woman's father and was involved in handing her back to the family earlier.
Based on these allegations and failure to take proper action in the case, the inspector was placed under suspension, said the official.
The woman's death is reported to have occurred on March 18, police said.
Meanwhile, police have registered a case under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and relevant sections may be altered during the course of investigation, he added.
