Deliberate attempt by Mangalore police to cover up excesses: Karnataka HC

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The Karnataka High Court granted bail to 21 people arrested in Mangalore who were arrested for offences committed allegedly during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). While stating the judgement, the Court observed that there had been a deliberate attempt by the Mangalore police to cover up the excesses they committed against the ant-CAA protestors.

The order passed by Justice John Michael Cunha read, “… a deliberate attempt is underway to cover up the police excesses by implicating innocent persons at the whims and caprice of the police. Overzealousness of the police is also evident from the fact that the FIRs are registered under Section 307 IPC (attempt to murder) against the persons killed by the police themselves.”

The judgement also stated, “The records indicate that a deliberate attempt has been made to fabricate evidence and to deprive the petitioners of their liberties. Any criminal antecedents of the petitioners are not disputed. There is no direct evidence to connect the petitioners with the alleged offences. The investigation appears to be mala fide and partisan.”

The Karnataka High Court also took note of CCTV footage and photographs that pointed out that the crowd was unarmed, showing only one person who was holding a bottle. “On the other hand,” the court added, “photographs produced by the petitioners show that the policemen themselves were pelting stones at the crowd.”

The Court also reprimanded the police saying that though it had registered 31 FIRs (including being charged with being members of an unlawful assembly and armed with lethal weapons) against the protestors, not a single case had been registered based on complaints made by the families of those who were injured and those who died to the police firing.

Two people were allegedly shot dead and a third was injured by the Mangalore police during protests against the CAA on December 19, 2019. A fact-finding report that was published by human rights activists said that the police allegedly went on a rampage during the protests and stormed into shops in the vicinity, pulling out people, selectively attacking Muslims. At around 4 pm, a team of police attacked Ibrahim Khaleel mosque where about 80 persons were praying peacefully. The police apparently sought to chase certain youth into the said mosque and then initiated an indiscriminate attack upon the mosque. The police launched an attack of stones and tear gas through and above the slats of the mosque gate, causing havoc and confusion.

The report also stated that the police attacked the Highland Hospital where the bodies of the deceased were kept. It was reported that the police attacked the Highland Hospital demanding that the bodies be handed over to them as they were Medico Legal Cases (MLCs). The police upon arrival at the hospital were faced by an angry group of mourners, who pelted stones at the police outside the hospital. The police engaged in lathi charge outside the hospital. They did not stop there. The police then fired tear gas within the hospital compound and proceeded to storm the hospital. They tried to barge into patient rooms including the ICU.

It said that denying bail to the petitioners would be a travesty of justice and an act of sacrificing their liberties to the mercy of the district administration and the police.

Last week, the Karnataka High Court had also ruled that the prohibitory orders passed under Section 144 CrPC on December 18 in Bangalore were illegal. Slowly but steadily, the evidence of police brutalitiy and the confessions of the police about their attacks on those protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) are coming to fore. With videos of the Delhi police attacking the students at Jamia Millia Islamia University and the UP police giving a ho-hum confession about their attacks on protestors in Bijnor, it is time for the Mangalore police to own up to its brutal actions.

The complete judgement of the Karnataka High Court may be read here.