Kalaburagi cop suspended over 3-year-old’s death

KEY STORY

• KALABURAGI: PSI Manjunath Hugar of Jewargi police station was on Monday placed under suspension on charges of dereliction of duty, Kalaburagi SP Simi Mariyam George said. Hugar was suspended in connection with the Jainapur incident, in which a 3-year-old girl died on Saturday evening.

• An inquiry was conducted by Additional SP Prasanna Desai, and Hugar was suspended based on his report.

• The child’s death led to irate villagers of Jainapur holding a dharna in front of GIMS Hospital on Sunday, led by Jewargi MLA Dr Ajay Singh, demanding the PSI’s suspension.

• Police tried to pacify the agitators by transferring him to the District Crime Branch, but the villagers intensified their agitation, and the SP announced that action would be taken within 24 hours of receipt of the inquiry report.According to sources, the postmortem report said there were no wounds on the body of the child, Bharati, and that she had died of hydrocephalus.

• It started with a clash between the followers of Raju, who won Jainapur Gram Panchayat election, and Santosh, who lost. Both parties lodged complaints with Jewargi police.

•   Sources said that Hugar went to Santosh’s house at noon on Friday and arrested the men allegedly involved in the attack. Bowing to pressure from the rival group backed by a former MLA, Hugar again went to Santosh’s house at Friday midnight to arrest the women and a few minors.

• He arrested Santosh’s brother’s wife Sangeeta and some others for their alleged involvement in the clash. Sangeeta’s son, aged six, was also named in the FIR. Though Sangeeta pleaded her innocence and requested that she be exempt, it is alleged that Hugar was adamant.

• While Sangeeta’s son was sent to an observation home for juveniles, she was allowed to take her daughter to the police station, and later to jail. Police records do not mention any details of the child or her ill-health.

• Sangeeta later told reporters that she and the others were beaten up by women police personnel, and her daughter too was injured in the melee. This could have caused her mental stress and led to her death, she claimed.

• However, sources denied any lapse on the part of jail authorities. When Bharati developed complications on Saturday, she was rushed to GIMS Hospital in Kalaburagi, and died while under treatment, sources said.

  POLITICAL TWIST

• The issue took a political turn with the Congress leading the protest, while a former BJP MLA tried to influence police officials not to take action against Hugar.

• Sources say that due to a lack of good BJP leadership, the Home Minister was not briefed till late night.

• Much later, Kalaburagi South MLA Dattatreya Patil Revoor briefed the minister on the tense situation, and so did former minister Dr Sharanprakash Patil.

• Following this, the minister instructed officers to announce that action would be taken. Only then was the strike withdrawn and the child’s body taken for burial after midnight.