Anti-CAA protests: Activists, lawyers write to Karnataka human rights panel seeking action against Mangaluru Police for two deaths on 19 Dec

A group of activists and lawyers wrote to the Karnataka human rights commission on Thursday demanding action against Mangaluru City commissioner of police and other officials for police action that allegedly led to the deaths of two people during anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests in the city on 19 December.

Two people were killed and 20 police personnel were reportedly injured in when violence erupted during the protest. Reports also said that the victims had received bullet injuries in police firing and they had succumbed at a hospital. The deceased were identified as Jaleel Kudroli (49) and Nausheen (23). The violence had also led to the imposition of curfew (Section 144 of CrPC) in the coastal town for three days.

Police personnel baton charge protesters during 19 Dec demonstration against the CAA. PTI

In the letter, the group demanded that action be initiated against the police officials who "violated" the directions of Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa and the courts, "and have fired at the general public resulting in death of two persons and injuring several others."

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Accusing the police of targeting and beating up protesters based on their attire and physical appearances, the letter said, "Several burkha-clad women were attacked and several students who spoke "byari" a local language spoken largely by the Muslim community were attacked, who were not part of the protest.

"We also bring to the notice of this honourable commission that prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC were clamped without consulting stakeholders," the letter added.

The compensation amount to the families of Kudroli and Nausheen has been put on hold on Wednesday as they are named as accused in an FIR over the 19 December violence during the protest As per the FIR, Kudroli and Nausheen were part of the violent protest against CAA and have been named as accused number 3 and 8 respectively.

A total of 77 people have been named in the FIR for their alleged involvement in the protests.

On Wednesday, Yediyurappa said that the solatium will not be given to their families if the duo were found involved in the riots. The government would not give a single rupee to their families if the investigation proved the involvement of the two in the violence, PTI quoted him as saying. He was replying to a question on the government's stand on the compensation in view of demands opposing it after the two were named in the FIR.

Soon after the incident, the government had announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the victims However, later some BJP leaders, including state ministers, had raised objections against disbursing compensation to the families of the deceased, pointing out that the deceased had been arraigned as accused in the case.

"There is a general opinion that it will be inappropriate to give them compensation since there are many charges against them (those killed in the firing) and now proof is emerging that they were among those who indulged in violence," Yediyurappa said.

He added, "We have not yet decided to give the ex-gratia to the family members of those killed in the police firing because giving ex-gratia to criminals is an unpardonable crime in itself. The government had earlier decided to give them compensation but we have now put on hold our decision and not a paisa will be given till the investigation is over."

The state government has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the 19 December violence.

On 21 December, he had met the family members of the two victims and also held a meeting with representatives of Christian and Muslim communities, political leaders and officials as he appealed for peace.

The activists called the rollback of the announced compensation "ironic" in their letter. "Further, several videos have been circulated in public wherein it is seen that police personnel have inhumanly attacked the students and women. In such videos, it seen that the police are entering the hospital premises and using lathis on the patients and common man," they added.

With inputs from agencies