Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy has dismissed allegations that the NWKRTC conductor, who was allegedly assaulted in Chikka Balekundri village, had molested a minor girl on the bus. The conductor has been booked under the POCSO Act.
“Conductor Mahadev Hukkeri has been serving on the same route for over five years. He was beaten up a group of men in the village over a language row. The charge that he molested a minor girl on the bus is false and baseless. There were 90 passengers in the bus. How is such an offence possible in such a situation in broad daylight? Vested interests have filed the case against him only to harass him. It is unfortunate that the police have registered the complaint. They should have used their common sense before registering the First Information Report,” Mr Reddy said.
He was speaking to reporters after meeting the injured conductor in the hospital.
He said that officers had told him that the conductor had got into an altercation with a boy and girl, both minors, who refused to speak Kannada. The conductor found out that the boy was a ticketless traveller. He had obtained, against rules, a zero fare ticket, from another female passenger. When the conductor questioned this, they asked him to speak in Marathi. He asked them to speak in Kannada. An argument ensued. The boy called his friends and family members on his mobile phone. They got into the bus at the next bus stop and allegedly assaulted the conductor, the Minister said.
The conductor is worried about the POCSO case. “KSRTC and other State-run transport undertakings operate 1.72 lakh trips per day. We have been operating for nearly seven decades, but this is the first such case against any of our staff,” the Minister said.
“The doctors told me the conductor would be discharged after two days. NWKRTC MD and other senior officers have visited the hospital and met his family. They have also spoken to the police. I will speak to the Home minster and see that no innocent is punished,” Mr Reddy said.
Four of the five persons, who have been arrested, have been remanded in judicial custody. One is a minor.
Minister of Women and Child Development Laxmi Hebbalkar, in whose constituency the village lies, condemned the attack on the conductor. “We should not fight on language issues. We should live like brothers and sisters,” she said.
“It is true that Belagavi Rural constituency is a Marathi speaking area. But it is also true that they have voted for me, a Kannadiga. It proves that the common people have no language based ill-will. Only a few miscreants are creating problems based on language. Within five minutes of the incident, I spoke to the police commissioner and Deputy Commissioner, and asked them to take action against the attackers. I was keeping track of the incident. But the police registered a POCSO case against the conductor at midnight, without my knowledge. They should have thought about it properly. What to do?” she told reporters at her home.
Mr Reddy had gone to meet Ms. Hebbalkar, who is recuperating after a road accident.
Kannada Chaluvali leader Gurudev Narayan Kumar has accused Ms Hebbalkar of exerting undue influence on the Belagavi police to lodge an FIR under POCSO Act against the conductor. He led a delegation to meet Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on February 24, and complained that the Minister had forced the police to file a counter-complaint to protect her Marathi vote bank.
Mr Kumar also alleged that Belagavi Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Roshan had given an assurance to Marathi groups to issue copies of government documents in Marathi, and sought action against him.
