CID takes over probe into Channagiri police station attack

DAVANAGERE: Two days after a mob pelted stones and vandalised the Channagiri police station, damaging some police vehicles too, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has taken over the probe into the incident on Monday.

A team of the CID, led by Deputy SP Kanakalakshmi, recorded the statements of the injured policemen and collected evidence including CCTV footage. The CID is also questioning others who visited the police station last Friday around the time the violence broke out.

The mob outside the police station; (right) a police officer attempts to pacify the crowd.

On Sunday night, the police took more than 30 people into custody in connection with the stone pelting, taking the total number of arrests to 55. The 25 people arrested earlier were produced before a magistrate on Sunday and remanded to judicial custody. They were also produced before a court on Monday via video conference as a precautionary measure.

Damaged glass panes of the Channagiri police station in the aftermath of Adil’s death.

So far, the police have registered six FIRs in connection with the incident based on complaints including from Kalimullah, the father of Adil, a matka organiser whose death sparked the violence, and the injured policemen. The police are expected to make more arrests in the case based on mobile phone videos and CCTV footage.

From left: Channagiri Deputy SP Prashant Munnoli, Circle Police Inspector Niranjan B and Sub-Inspector Akthar, who have been suspended.

Meanwhile, on the instructions of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Home Minister G Parameshwara, the police have suspended Channagiri Deputy SP Prashant Munnoli, Circle Police Inspector Niranjan B and Sub-Inspector Akthar.

On Monday, Hindu activists staged a protest in Channagiri condemning the ‘appeasement politics’ of the Congress government.