The Hindu : Karnataka News : Police fire in the air to disperse aggressive mob in Davangere

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 14, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Others

Police fire in the air to disperse aggressive mob in Davangere

Staff Correspondent

Stones thrown at police station; five policemen injured Azadnagar police station pelted with stones leaving five policemen injured

CALMING INFLUENCE: Deputy Commissioner M.B. Dyaberi (in T-shirt) and Superintendent of Police Shivakumar going around the troubled Azadnagar area in Davangere on Tuesday.

DAVANGERE: The police used teargas and opened fire in the air to control a 500-strong mob that pelted the Azadnagar police station here with stones around 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

Five police personnel, including Assistant Sub-Inspector Thippanaika, were injured in the clash. The condition of Mr. Thippanaika, who was hit on the head in the stone throwing, is stated to be serious.

Six vehicles, including a bus, two police jeeps and a couple of two-wheelers, were damaged in the melee.

Raids spark trouble

The trouble began after the district administration raided "mandakki bhattis" (units making puffed rice) on Tuesday morning to rescue child labourers and prevent the owners of the units from burning used tyres and tubes for fuel, which is polluting the area.

As officials of the Labour and Environment departments, with the help of the police, began raiding the units, a large number of people, said to be owners and workers of the "mandakki bhattis," assembled in front of the Azadnagar police station and started throwing stones at the police station. They also pelted police vehicles with stones. Mr. Thippanaika and four other injured policemen were shifted to the general hospital.

The police, who were taken aback by the sudden turn of events, tried to disperse the mob with a lathicharge. When that failed, they lobbed teargas shells. Finally they fired five rounds in the air.

Child labourers freed

Over 25 children employed in the units were rescued and a large number of tyres and tubes were recovered in the raids.

Later, the police searched many of the "mandakki bhattis" and took into custody hundreds of workers and the owners of the units who were hiding there. Allabakshi, a member of the Davangere City Municipal Council, is among the many who were taken into custody by the police.

Prominent community leaders met Deputy Commissioner A.B. Dyaberi and Superintendent of Police Shivakumar and urged them to release all those who had been arrested. The officials told them that the whole incident had been videotaped and they would identify those who threw stones at the police station and book cases against them. Those who were not involved would be released, they said.

The officials made it clear that they would take action against units that continue to pollute the area by burning tyres and tubes and employ children.

The community leaders sought three months' time for the units to install gas-fired boilers and said the owners of the units would be cautioned not to employ children.

The leaders included A.B. Rahim Sab, former President of the Davangere City Municipal Council; Ayub Khan, councillor; Saifulla, President of the private bus owners' association; and D. Basavaraj, councillor and former President of the City Municipal Council.

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