The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Booking people under the Goonda Act

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 01, 2006
ePaper

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Booking people under the Goonda Act

Though the police have been raiding gambling dens, massage parlours and brothels, not one person has been detained under the Act so far, writesK.V. Subramanya

THOUGH LAND grabbing, prostitution rackets, narcotic trade and illegal lotteries are flourishing in the city, the Bangalore police have not invoked the stringent Goonda Act against those indulging in these activities.

The Karnataka Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug Offenders, Gamblers, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders and Slum Grabbers Act, 1985, which is commonly known as Goonda Act, provides for initiating action against such elements under the Act.

In the past few years, the police have rarely detained any one under the Act. However, in February last, the then Police Commissioner Ajai Kumar Singh instructed the officials to make use of the provisions of the Goonda Act to check the increasing gang wars. Subsequently, the police detained about half-a-dozen people under the Act.

But those who were detained were accused in murder, robbery, extortion, kidnapping and rioting cases and not in prostitution rackets, land grabbing and illegal lotteries.

After the State Government banned the single digit lottery some years ago, the single digit lottery in the guise of two-digit lottery, matka and betting on skill games and video games are thriving in several areas of the city.

Organised prostitution rackets, as the police admit, have been flourishing after the closure of live band joints. Brothels, in the guise of massage centres, have mushroomed in the city.

Though the police have been conducting raids on gambling dens, massage parlours and brothels, they have not detained any one under the Goonda Act so far. The same is the case even with land sharks.

Senior police officials say that the detailed documentation and also recording the person's previous such history may be the reason for such elements not being booked under the Goonda Act.

An official said that while invoking the Goonda Act, the police would normally look if the person has been using muscle power to commit crimes. "Probably this could be the reason for not booking people accused in gambling, immoral trafficking and some other crimes under the Goonda Act."

In regard to land grabbing, there are certain ambiguities in the Act as it only refers to "slum grabbers." Further, in several cases lands are grabbed by creating fake documents and not through coercion, the official says.

Of course, some of the persons who have been detained under the Goonda Act were also accused of settling land deals using muscle power, he says.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka

News Update

Stories in this Section