Bangalore rape fallout: Police commissioner transferred

ADGP Law and Order (State Police Headquarters) M N Reddi took charge as the new City police chief soon after the government issued the order of his appointment. Auradkar has been posted as ADGP KSRP. The government also shifted Additional Commissioner (Law and Order) Kamal Pant, second-in-command in the commissionerate, and brought in Inspector General of Police Alok Kumar to the place. The government and the City police have come under attack for the delay in arresting the suspects in the rape of a PG student in Fraser Town and a six-year-old girl at Vibgyor High, a school in Marathahalli. While some suspects were recently arrested in the two incidents, police are yet to trace those who raped a 16-year-old girl at a seminary in Hennur on July 16. Soon after assuming charge from Auradkar, the new commissioner said the police would book a case under appropriate sections of the IPC against the Vibgyor High management, which has been accused of hushing up the incident. Goonda Act Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said in the Assembly that the provisions of the Goonda Act, 1985 would be invoked against Mustafa, a skating instructor at the school who was arrested on Sunday. A person can be booked under the Goonda Act only if he is found to be a habitual offender. As Mustafa was found to have committed many criminal acts, instructions have been given to the police to book him under the Act and file a charge sheet at the earliest, he added. Earlier in the day, Home Minister K J George told the Assembly that instructions have been given to the police to file an FIR against the school chairman. The management had delayed giving the CCTV footage to the police. A special team is probing the case and is searching for another suspect. Besides the three rape incidents, the recent issue of Congress MLA Vijayananda Kashappanavar and his associates allegedly beating up two constables at a lounge bar and ADGP P Ravindranath episode, which caused much embarrassment to the government, also led to the transfer of Auradkar, sources in the Home Department said. Ravindranath, who was charged with clicking photos of women at a coffee shop, had accused Auradkar of conspiring against him. He had also filed a case against Auradkar under SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act. -Deccan Herald