Mangaluru firing case: Protesters hurled petrol bombs at police station: Basavaraj Bommai
Bengaluru: Defending police firing on anti-CAA protesters in Mangaluru on December 19, Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraja Bommai said that police had to resort to firing when protesters hurled petrol bombs, stones and attempted to barge into the police station before police fired and shot down two protesters.
Responding on the Mangaluru firing case in Vidhana Parishat on Thursday, he said the protesters attempted to barge into the gun shop and collect ammunition. At this point, the police resorted to lathi-charge, teargas, and fired in the air to disperse the protesters. However, the situation couldn't be brought under control, he said.
'Mangalore riots pre-planned: The Home Minister further claimed that SKSSF had organised the protest against CAA on December 19 but it was later withdrawn by the organisers on request made by police as Section 144 was imposed across the state on that day. But, SDPI's Riaz Farangipet called for protests through social media, he alleged.
Judicial probe not necessary: The firing case took place in Kaveri issue in Bengaluru and the firing case in Mulki in Mangaluru in 2007 were handed over to the magistrate's inquiry without any judicial probe. Similarly, the case has been handed over to the magistrate's inquiry headed by the Udupi deputy commissioner. This way, the investigation report would be submitted to the High Court soon the Home Minister informed the assembly.
Giving the account of the action taken by the police department to disperse the protesters, Bommai added that before police fired on protesters the personnel resorted to lathi charge, detained few protesters, used tear gas and 47 rubber bullets and fired 10 rounds in air when the situation was going out of control.
He further stated over 1300 calls were made on Kasargod-Mangaluru telecom route on December 19, the day of protest. He noted that over 373 people were served notice by the police to appear before it for investigation, adding that those found guilty will be prosecuted.
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
