Police given free hand to act against communal elements vitiating religious harmony: Araga Jnanendra
Belagavi, Dec 15: Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on Wednesday said the police have been given a free hand to act against elements from any community who vitiate communal harmony.
"We have not given any direction to police to act against one community and not the other. We want law and order in the state and communal harmony is important for us. We have given a free hand to police to act against communal elements who vitiate religious harmony," he told the Karnataka Assembly.
He was replying to the matter raised by Congress MLA U T Khader who alleged communal tensions in coastal Karnataka due to fringe elements who organise events like 'Trishool Deeksha' which lead to communal flare up.
"Such events result in clashes between communities. Give police freedom to act against such elements who try to vitiate the atmosphere," Khader said.
In his reply, Jnanendra said police promptly initiated action whenever it came across any such incident.
"Irrespective of the faith, police are acting mercilessly against those who disturb peace," the minister said.
He cited an example where 300 to 400 people attacked police in Uppinangady area in Dakshina Kannada district. He added that some of the miscreants attacked the policemen with sharp weapons.
The Minister also pointed out that the police acted against those who "celebrated" the death of the Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat along with 12 others in a helicopter crash at Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on December 8.
"People celebrating the death of decorated soldiers lead to conflict. Should we support such elements?" Jnanendra said.
He also told the House that a couple was attacked recently in Mangaluru and the police quickly registered a case on its own.
The Minister asked the Congress MLA to bring any case where the police did not act against communal elements vitiating religious harmony among communities, to the government's notice.
"Don't panic and bring such cases to our notice. We will act tough against such officials," he said.
Jnanendra appealed to the people of coastal Karnataka to maintain communal harmony.
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KKR land Green for record-breaking Rs 25.20 crore; Shaw, Sarfaraz go unsold
Abu Dhabi (PTI): Kolkata Knight Riders splurged a record-breaking Rs 25.20 to land top Australian all-rounder Cameron Green even as Indian stars Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan went unsold in the Indian Premier League players' auction here on Tuesday.
Green surpassed compatriot Mitchell Starc (Rs 24.75 crore) to become the most expensive overseas player at an IPL auction. This was after Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings were involved in an intense bidding war for him before the latter emerged winner.
KKR also went after Venkatesh Iyer before pulling out of the race against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who fetched the services of the India all-rounder for Rs 7 crore.
As far as Green is concerned, his salary for the season would still be Rs 18 crore (USD 1.9 million) as the rest of the amount will go towards the BCCI's player development programme as per the rules of the auction for foreign players.
Green, who previously turned up for Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, has so far played 29 matches in the IPL to aggregate 707 runs and take 16 wickets.
Shaw, however, went unsold despite his fine run of form in the domestic circuit lately, and so was the case with Sarfaraz, who smashed a 22-ball 73 in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match for Mumbai on Tuesday.
Big-hitting South African batter David Miller was bought by Delhi Capitals for his base price of Rs 2 crore, but New Zealand swashbuckler Devon Conway, whose base price was also Rs 2 crore, went unsold in the auction.
Seasoned South African opener Quinton de Kock returned to his old base Mumbai Indians for a base price of Rs 1 crore.
A total of 359 players -- 246 Indians and 113 overseas players -- are part of the mini auction pool with the 10 franchises bidding to fill up a maximum of 77 slots, including 31 reserved for foreign players.
