Karnataka - Gulbarga   

Protesting Dalit leaders arrested

GULBARGA: A number of prominent Dalit leaders were arrested here for raising slogans against Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa after he failed to respond to the memorandum submitted by them at Melkunda village in the district.

They have been demanding action against Deputy Commissioner R. Vishal for his alleged anti-Dalit stance and the failure to disburse compensation due to Dalit victims as per the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

According to the police, 22 Dalit leaders including Dalit Sena State general secretary Hanumanth Yelsangi, senior Dalit leader Suryakant Nimbalkar, the former chairman of the Standing Committee on Social Justice in the zilla panchayat Bhimarao Tegaltippi, Mapanna Ganjigeri and others were arrested. They were produced before the taluk magistrate.

Protest

Initially, the Dalit leaders were planning a protest at the function the Chief Minister was attending.

However, the police persuaded them not to disrupt it and saidthat they would allow a delegation of Dalits to meet the Chief Minister and present their memorandum.

Soon after completing his engagements in the village, the Chief Minister met the Dalit leaders and accepted their memorandum.

However, he did not respond to the demands of the Dalit leaders. Even as he was leaving, the leaders started raising slogans against the Chief Minister, forcing the police to formally arrest them.

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