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Karnataka CM orders judicial probe into communal violence

Karnataka Chief Minister J H Patel today announced a judicial probe into the violent incidents in various parts of Dakshina Kannada district in which nine people were killed and 57 others injured.

He told journalists after a peace committee meeting that a high court judge would be asked to probe the incidents in Suratkal, Puttur, and Mangalore. He would also consult the chief justice of the Karnataka high court on the selection of the judge to conduct the probe, he said.

Patel said a special coastal police force would be created soon to curb goons in the district. Two companies of the Karnataka State Reserve Police would be stationed in Mangalore henceforth, he said, adding that the provisions of the Anti-Goonda Act would also be invoked in the district with immediate effect.

Patel said he would soon write to Prime Minister A B Vajpayee, urging him to take the initiative to evolve a national consensus on curbing religious fundamentalism. If Vajpayee agreed, he was prepared to hold a national debate on the issue in Bangalore itself, he said.

Transport Minister P G R Scindia, Home Minister R Roshan Baig, and Minister B A Moideen, who is in charge of the district, attended the peace committee meeting.

State Janata Dal president B L Shankar alleged the Hindu Jagarna Vedike's provocative speeches was one of the main causes for the violence. He stressed the need for creation of a special task force in the district to curb underworld activities.

Asked about the crisis in the ruling Janata Dal in the state, Shankar said party president Sharad Yadav would soon take a final decision on the issue of change in the leadership of the Dal legislature party.

UNI

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