Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal (SP)
Bantwal, Dec 28: By promptly and tactfully handling the stabbing incident at Kalladka on Tuesday December 26 evening, Dakshina Kannada district superintendent of police, Sudheer Kumar Reddy, provided proof about his maturity and ability. The people have been lavish in praising the police officer for helping in restoring normalcy in the region before the situation could snowball into a crisis.
Reddy was posted to the district after the murder of Sharath Madivala, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activist, at B C Road, following which communal clashes erupted. During the six months he has been here, no serious incidents have happened. But on Tuesday evening, things turned for the worse when a youth was stabbed by miscreants at Kalladka, known to be the hotbed of communal conflicts in coastal Karnataka. As the news of the stabbing spread, shopkeepers downed their shutters and vehicular movement suddenly fell, expecting the worst.
In this incident, Keshav, accused in the murder of Jaleel, vice president of Karopady gram panchayat, was attacked. Within half an hour, the SP rushed to Kalladka, duly keeping abreast of minute-by-minute developments during his journey and passing on instructions to his subordinates continuously. He also arranged to post the news of the stabbing in the official WhatsApp group of the police department to make sure that rumours giving false news do not wreak havoc. He provided exact details of the incident, nature and depth of the injury etc, which convinced the people about the genuineness of the information.
It is said that Reddy also contacted a website where a wrong photo of the victim of this incident was posted and arranged to set right the mistake. He also saw to it that a photo of the injured person being treated at the hospital was posted in the WhatsApp group.
He also convened a meeting of polcie officials for arresting the culprits and made sure that the team went into action by midnight. Within 12 hours of the incident, an arrest was made in stone pelting incident and a person was taken into custody relating to stabbing incident.
The SP said that he immediately rushed to the spot upon getting information and tightened security. As false information had begun to spread in WhatsApp and social websites, he said, he saw to it that accurate information about the incident was posted in the official WhatsApp group of the police department. He felt that Kalladka returned to normalcy fast as rumours and concocted stories were not allowed to get foothold.
The SP, with these initiatives, got himself reckoned among the more upright and sincere police officers who give paramount importance to see that normal life is not disrupted peace settles in the affected areas at the earliest.
Kalladka has been completely peaceful, shops and establishments are functioning, and vehicular traffic was normal on Wednesday. The police said that Khaleel from Kalladka and his accomplice were taken into custody to question them about their whereabouts on the occasion of the said incident, duly adding that they had not been arrested.
The culprits were wearing helmets to conceal their identities. Injured Keshava continues to be treated in a private hospital, and he is out of danger.
Bantwal police circle inspector Prakash, town station in-charge, Chandrashekhar, and rural station house officer, Prasanna, are keeping close watch on the prevailing situation.