BENGALURU: A rampaging mob ransacked a private school, attacked policemen and set three two-wheelers on fire after parents gathered in front of the institution and accused a PT teacher of sexually harassing a seven-year-old student, in southwest Bengaluru, on Wednesday.
Hale Guddadahalli, off Mysuru Road, where the school is located, saw pitched battles between violent mobs and police throughout the day. Police repeatedly resorted to a lathicharge and burst teargas shells at least 12 times to deter the violent protesters.
Eleven policemen and a civilian were injured, and the situation came under control only by 3pm.
City police suspect the violence was stage-managed, and the hooligans capitalized on the unrest prevailing in front of the school. Police sources said the three-floor school building was under dispute and there was pressure on the management to sell the premises.
Fifteen people were detained for questioning. Police imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC in Hale Guddadahalli, Hosa Guddadahalli, JJ Nagar and Goripalya.
The situation was normal when school opened in the morning. A group of parents turned up at the school gates and alleged that a class 2 student was sexually harassed by the PT teacher, Ramakrishna J, 49. The parents demanded they be allowed to meet the principal, who went into a huddle with his colleagues and Ramakrishna.
However, the scene turned restive in front of the school as the crowd began swelling. Things took an ugly turn when the mob, which according to school sources did not include parents, barged into the campus and ransacked the premises.
Blackboards were broken, window panes and tubelights were smashed, desks and benches vandalized. Three two-wheelers parked outside the school were set on fire. A few miscreants locked up classrooms from outside and panicky children began wailing.
Headmaster Anand and principal Gajendra, who were locked inside their chambers, called the police control room around 10.30am.
A police team led by DCP (West) Labhuram rushed to the spot, but by then the mob was in control of the situation, and attacked them. Two platoons of the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) descended on the scene and a large police posse led by additional commissioner of police (law and order) Alok Kumar joined them.
The mob began raining bottles and stones on policemen. Around noon, Alok Kumar ordered a lathicharge and firing of seven rounds of teargas shells.
In the melee, constable Kiran Kattimani, standing near Alok Kumar, sustained an injury on his head after miscreants pelted them with stones.
The mob spread out and began attacking policemen in Hale Guddadahalli, Nehru Road, and neighbouring JJ Nagar and Goripalya. All three localities turned tense as shops downed shutters and policemen fought with hooligans. Missiles were hurled at police by women from rooftops of houses.
Two more KSRP platoons and police reinforcements from central division led by DCP (Central) Sandeep Patil, too plunged into action.
Around 2pm, normalcy appeared to be returning but stone-pelting resumed, leaving Kengeri ACP Manjunath and Upparpet police constable Prakash Reddy with injuries in the head and face. Police baton-charged miscreants and burst five rounds of teargas shells about 300 metres away from the school.
By 3pm, the situation eased as a peace meeting was held in the presence of local leaders, including Chamarajpet MLA BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan. Soon, people were back on the road. Parents brought children back from school and shops lifted shutters which they had pulled down in the morning.
DCPs Labhuram, Sandeep Patil and Vikas Kumar Vikas with 100 police constables, 25 sub-inspectors and five inspectors continued to patrol the affected areas. Twenty KSRP and six City Armed Reserve platoons were also camping in the area.
Meanwhile, the girl’s parents, who went missing after the morning demonstration, appeared before the jurisdictional Byatarayanapura police and filed a sexual harassment case against the PT teacher. A case under Pocso Act was registered and the teacher taken into custody.
Who thrashed Ramakrishna?
The mob attacked accused PT teacher Ramakrishna J, 49, before the school management managed to evacuate him, and locked him up in a room in the school. Byatarayanapura police arrived at the spot and sought to take him away in a Hoysala, when he was attacked. A stranger emerged from the crowd and thrashed Ramakrishna. The mob demanded that police hand over Ramakrishna to them and they would teach him a lesson. Police managed to get Ramakrishna away from the attacker but a few minutes later, another stranger attacked him before he was driven away in the Hoysala.
Who drove up in 10 vehicles?
Police suspect the Byatarayanapura riot was pre-meditated. “Everything was normal when parents were agitating outside the school. But suddenly, a gang of miscreants barged into the school and set vehicles on fire. There were 10 MUVs parked near the school entrance and they all vanished after the first lathicharge. Who had come in them?” a senior police officer asked. Police are now looking at all angles.
TOI | Jan 8, 2015
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