Home minister praises police for peaceful bandh

BANGALORE: Home Minister Mallikarjun Kharge has complimented the Bangalore city police for maintaining law and order during the `Bangalore Bandh'' on September 12 called to protest against the release of Cauvery waters to Tamil Nadu.
Addressing a press conference in the police commissioner''s office on Saturday, Kharge said the police have protected the property and lives of Bangaloreans during the bandh.
Bandhs called in the past on the Cauvery issue had turned violent causing enormous damage to property and disturbance in the city.
Kharge said that the city police headed by Police Commissioner H.T. Sangliana are doing good work. Several incidents of murders and robberies reported in the last few weeks have affected the city''s residents. ``I am confident that Sangliana and his men will solve these cases,'''' he added. He advised Sangliana to form special squads to detect these cases.
Kharge was in the police commissioner''s office on Saturday to have a look at Rs 25 lakh worth of property recovered from a criminal arrested by the Banasawadi police. He announced a cash reward of Rs 50,000 to the police team headed by Inspector H. Siddappa for nabbing the criminal.
Responding to a question that the morale of the police force was generally down because a set of police officers have hijacked him to bag `key and lucrative'' police stations and postings in the city, Kharge said: ``Nobody can hijack me, not even in their dreams.''''
Commenting on the allegations that round-the-year transfers were affecting the work in police stations, Kharge said: ``Because of promotions and other transfers, posts are falling vacant and we are filling them up.''''
Kharge, reacting to a question on political interference in transfers, said he gets requests for postings not just from the politicians, but from a host of others including journalists.
He refused to comment on a particular police inspector bagging `lucrative'' postings throughout his career. This inspector had served in the busy Upparpet police station for five years, posted to Hanumanthanagar for three months and finally brought back to Ashoknagar police station which controls the maximum number of liveband restaurants and other joints in the limits.