Refuse to take up case against minister Somanna even though victim's wife has filed complaint
Refuse to take up case against minister Somanna even though victim's wife has filed complaint
The city police is yet to take up the case against housing and muzrai minister V Somanna, who allegedly slapped a BBMP assistant engineer in public. This, despite a complaint filed by Triveni, the wife of A N Somaraju, the victim.
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Short-tempered: V Somanna who allegedly slapped a BBMP official |
City police commissioner SM Bidari justified the inaction saying that the preliminary investigations showed that no such incident occurred. "Though Somanna pulled up the engineer Somaraju, he did not slap him as alleged. Moreover, since the incident reportedly occurred on Saturday, why did the family member take three days to file the complaint?" asked Bidari, hinting that the case was the handiwork of vested interests.
Meanwhile, Airport police who have received the complaint from the family members of Somaraju, have not registered the case. According to them, it is a non-cognisable offence and has therefore been transferred to Kalasipalya police station, since the incident reportedly happened in that area.
Though the ball is now in their court, Kalasipalya police too has refused to make a move, claiming that there is no evidence that Somanna has slapped Somaraju. "We have cross-checked with the witnesses and the officials present at the programme and decided to close the case, since it does not have the validity to be pursued further", a police official said.
According to Triveni, Somanna had a dispute with Somaraju over the work on a culvert in Dasarahalli. During the argument, an enraged Somanna hurled invectives at the engineer in the presence of others and then slapped him, causing him to fall unconscious, Triveni alleges. Somaraju was later admitted to Manipal Hospital, she said.
