Karnataka minister booked for allegedly assaulting and abusing Dalit family

The FIR says that Sudhakar and his men attempted to demolish the building and compound wall on the disputed property using an excavator.

Written by : TNM Staff

Karnataka’s Planning and Statistics Minister D Sudhakar has been booked by the Karnataka police in connection with a property dispute. The Minister faces allegations of trying to evict a Dalit family forcefully from a piece of disputed land. The minister and others have been booked for trespassing, atrocities against Dalits, cheating, and assault. 

The victim has alleged that on Saturday, September 9, the minister along with real estate developers and others reached the disputed property at Yelahanka when no one was at home. The minister had come along with 35-40 people in the group. They allegedly barged into the property.

Using an excavator, the accused party attempted to demolish the building and compound wall on the disputed property. When the victim and her family became aware of the incident, they rushed to the spot. When the family questioned the minister, they allegedly attempted to overpower them and used casteist remarks against them.

The family has also filed a complaint with the Lokayukta against Revenue officers. “This is a property issue. We are not doing this because he is a minister. Rowdies came and beat us up. We are Dalits, no one came to help us. This is not political, we want justice,” said an aggrieved family member while speaking to NewsFirst. Subbamma, one of the complainants said, “It is our property. We are asking for justice, we want our property that is all we ask for. Sudhakar could have spoken to us, why would he send rowdies?”

The FIR filed on Sunday, September 10 identifies Seven Hills Developers and Traders as accused one and Sudhakar as accused two. There are two more accused – Srinivas and Bhagyamma. Sudhakar, who is the secretary of Seven Hills Developers and Traders Company, has been accused of fraudulently acquiring survey number 108/1 land in Yelahanka.

The minister denied the allegations, stating, “The accusations against me are false. For all the land we own, we have all the documents. The transaction is more than nine years old. The case is proceeding as per the law. We will abide by the law too.”

Meanwhile, the Karnataka BJP opposition is calling for the resignation of Sudhakar as the case against him falls under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act. 

Speaking to reporters, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that there is no need for Sudhakar to resign since he has been implicated in a false case. “I have personally obtained all details and have also obtained information from the officials. It is clearly a false case and there is no need for resignation. Sudhakar has purchased lands after obtaining all necessary permissions,” he said.

DK Shivakumar further added, “During the elections some vested interests have fenced the land and now the minister has tried to secure the land purchased by him. When the case was registered against the minister, I know that Dr Sudhakar was in Chitradurga and therefore it is evident that it is a false case as he was not present at the spot. There is no question of invoking PCR Act provisions.”

Courtesy : TMN

Note: This news piece was originally published in thenewsminute.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Right