Bantwal, Sept 2: The desecration of Quran and other Islamic books allegedly committed by the police in Bantwal taluk has evoked sharp response from Muslim organizations that demanded the government to launch an impartial probe and take action against the “communal cops.”
“We will launch a massive agitation if the authorities concerned failed to take action against those who hurt the sentiments of Muslims by throwing Quran,” said Ashraf, former mayor and president of Dakshina Kannada Muslim Sanghatanegala Okkoota.
Photos of holy scriptures lying scattered around on the floor following a police raid on the house of one of the suspects in the RSS worker Sharath Madivala murder case on Saturday have gone viral on social media.
The Bantwal police are on manhunt for Kalandar, a resident of Sajipamunnur in Bantwal taluk in connection with the case. At around 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning the a team of police allegedly rained his house. The raid reportedly continued till 2:30 p.m.
The family members of Kalandar have accused that the policemen threw copies of Quran on the floor and tore Madrasa books. The police, who suspect missing Kalandar’s involvement in money transaction in connection with the murder, however, denied the charge of disrespecting Quran. They claimed that they did not touch any religious books during the search.
According to Maimoona, mother of Kalandar, the group of policemen barged into the house and started searching every nook and corner.
“They opened the cupboard in the hall and threw out all the books that were inside. When they took the Quran and started leafing through it, we urged them to keep it back in its place, but they threw it on the floor right in front of our eyes. Then they took out Madrasa books and began scattering them. When we told them that they were just Madrasa books and contained nothing incriminatory, the police retorted that Madrasa teachers train students to kill," she claimed.
"Some of the policemen were in uniforms while others were in plainclothes. They had no warrant to search. When we asked the police why they had come, they said Kalandar has received Rs one crore to kill Sharath Madivala. The police asked where we had hidden the money, and told us that they had come to take it away. They then tore the mattress of the bed and searched there too,” she said.
Maimoona said that the cops also threatened that all the family members would be arrested if Kalandar does not surrender within two days. “They also threatened to shoot him dead. They also took away his marks cards," she said.
Kalandar's father T Ibrahim told reporters, "If my son has committed any crime, then arrest and punish him. The police asked us where we had hidden the one crore rupees that Kalandar received, as per their claim. Let the police arrest the person who gave him that money. We do not know where Kalandar is. The police should not harass us because of him. Before this, the police took us to the station twice and harassed us. Now they are doing it in our own house. We will commit suicide if this continues."
Denying the charges, Sudheer Kumar Reddy, superintendent of police of Dakshina Kannada, said that the police personnel in the search team did not touch any religious book. He also said that the police have proof of this, as the search was video-recorded.
He said that the viral photographs and video clips of Quran and madrasa books lying on the ground are not taken during the raids. “With the intention of spreading tension miscreants have created such a scene and took photographs. Police will take stringent action against such miscreants,” he said.
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