No innocent person held over Hubballi violence: Karnataka CM Bommai
Bengaluru/Sringeri (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday dismissed the allegations that innocent people are being held in connection with the Hubballi violence and said arrests were made based on evidence.
"No innocent person has been arrested. Based on evidences, people have been arrested," Bommai told reporters at Menase helipad in the temple town of Sringeri.
The Chief Minister said no one involved in the violence will be spared and the government will ensure that they are punished.
"Those who take law into their hands will face action. Attacking a police station is an unpardonable act," Bommai said.
He was replying to a query on opposition parties' apprehensions that innocent people are being framed in the Hubballi incident.
Regarding the Congress party's allegation that there was Ravana Rajya' instead of Rama Rajya', Bommai said what common people say is important and not the opposition parties.
"We cannot expect anything better from the opposition," the Chief Minister said.
A large number of Muslim people on Saturday midnight went on a rampage over a social media post showing a saffron flag placed on a mosque in the Old Town of Hubballi.
Police have so far arrested 89 people while four persons named in the FIR are still at large. The 89 people appeared before court via video-conference on Monday.
Regarding civil contractor Santosh Patil's suicide case, Bommai said the investigation is going on and he did not wish to comment on it regularly.
Bommai refuted the charge that he was not taking strong decisions and said he has ordered a detailed probe in the contractor's death case, Hubballi violence and the irregularities in sub-inspector recruitment tests.
Senior BJP MLA K S Eshwarappa resigned last Thursday as Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister after Patil allegedly died by suicide in an Udupi hotel accusing the minister of demanding 40 per cent commission on a public work in Hindalga village of Belagavi district last year.
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CRPF dog killed in bee attack during Korgotalu hills anti-Naxal operation
Bijapur (Chhattisgarh), May 15 (PTI): Rolo, a two-year-old female sniffer dog of the CRPF, was the only casualty suffered by the security forces during their biggest anti-Naxal operation at the Korgotalu hills as the four-legged soldier was attacked and stung around 200 times by a swarm of bees.
Officials told PTI that the canine was tasked with sniffing out explosives and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) during the mega 21-day operation that concluded on May 11. Rolo was killed in action on April 27, they said.
The CRPF DG has awarded a commendation medal to the dog posthumously.
The security forces led by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Chhattisgarh Police units have claimed to have killed 31 Maoists, a "deadly blow" to the armed cadres of the Naxalites.
A total of 18 troops were injured, including some who underwent leg amputation due to blast injuries, in this operation that the forces said was the "biggest coordinated" operation against the Maoists till date.
The Korgotalu hills lie on the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border (Bijapur and Mulugu districts of the two states respectively) and are home to wild animals, including bears, insects and bees, apart from water bodies and natural caves. The dense jungle makes them an ideal hideout for the Naxals.
Rolo, a Belgian Shepherd, was carrying out a search operation when the party was suddenly attacked by the swarm of bees on April 27, a senior CRPF official said.
Rolo's handlers covered it with a polythene sheet but the bees slipped inside and bit it. Due to intense pain and irritation, the dog went berserk and came out of the cover, making it vulnerable to more stings, the officials said.
The dog was stung around 200 times and fell unconscious. She was evacuated from the spot and emergency treatment was given to her by the handlers, the officials said.
However, Rolo succumbed to the pain on the way to a medical facility on April 27 and was declared brought dead by the veterinarians of the force.
The dog was deployed for anti-Naxal operations in Chhattisgarh in April last year after being trained at the CRPF canine training centre at Taralu near Bengaluru in Karnataka.
