Mangaluru: Over the last 25 years or more the coastal city of Mangaluru had been given the title- ‘Hindutva laboratory’ for all the wrong reasons. Just a few days after the infamous Godhra incident in Gujarat there were talks of converting Karnataka into a Gujarat model and making Dakshina Kannada a core of Hindutva activities in the state.
The series of big communal clashes of 1997 and 2006 fanned by the hate speeches delivered by communal leaders in every street corner of the Dakshina Kannada District had given it a bad name, that was also the time when big industrial and business investments were just rolling into the Coastal region. Since then the police administration had been on a roll to find a foolproof way out of this situation. No Government was able to formulate a force that had the direct mandate for controlling or even eliminating communal goonda elements in the District, particularly in Mangaluru city.
The Siddaramiah Government has put an end to that speculation and has formed an elite force taking out officers from the Police Department and the Intelligence. This is not the first attempt, top cops like Gopal Hosur when he was the Western Range Inspector General of Police and Seemanth Kumar Singh as the Commissioner have made pioneering efforts to control communal elements in Mangaluru with a great deal of success. But this is the first time when a force has been formed with direct mandate to put down communal elements.
The Mangaluru City Police is now armed with this elite force under the wings of the Central Crime Bureau of Mangaluru Police headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police. An anti-communal wing has been formed to put an end on the case of vigilantism and moral policing under the jurisdiction of the Commissionerate.
CCB ACP Parameshwar Hegde has been given charge of this, said City Police Commissioner Kuldeep Kumar R. Jain. He said that the purpose of the anti-communal wing is to deal with the situation by carrying out rapid operations in order to prevent cases of moral policing and any kind of communal riots.
In a meeting of police officers held in Mangalore on June 6, Home Minister Dr. G. Parameshwar said that he had given instructions about the formation of an anti-communal wing to prevent this in the face of increasing moral policing in Mangaluru.
There are many educational institutes in the city where state, inter-state and foreign students study. Mangaluru city area is a susceptible area in terms of communal harmony and there have been situations in the past where minor communal incidents have turned into disaster.
He said that this wing is helpful in preventing the creation of an atmosphere of unrest during the reporting of cases of unethical police brutality in the city and when law and order is disturbed.
All the cases related to communal issues reported earlier in the city, including murder, attempted murder, dombi cases, ethical policing, cow theft, illegal cow-trafficking, cattle rustling, etc., and the daily monitoring of the movements of those identified as accused in them, and the duty to take cover against them under the Security Act will be performed.
The anti-communal wing, which will be headed by CCI ACP, will have police inspectors and staff members from Mangalore City Special Branch (CSB). He said that he will analyse from time to time the cases that have been registered in the city and those that threaten communal harmony and will focus on monitoring the accused.