Fight among police top brass, BJP demands K J George's resignation

BANGALORE: BJP today demanded resignation of Home Minister K J George accusing him of having lost control of his department and failed to control Law and order in the wake of "shameful" public spat of top police echelon in the city.

"The State is witnessing a very disturbing and shameful incident of the top police echelon having a public spat over the last four days. The Chief Minister and Home Minister have remained mute spectators to this bizarre drama," BJP said in a memorandum to Governor H R Bhardwaj following open display of friction in the city police top brass.

The memorandum signed by former Chief Minister and leader of opposition in the assembly Jagadish Shettar and former Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka comes in the wake of the unseemly fight in the police top brass after a senior IPS officer P Ravindranath, was accused of clicking "objectionable" pictures of a woman in a coffee shop.

Ravindranath who was transferred from the post of Additional DGP of Karnataka State Reserve Police following the woman's complaint, on Thursday has filed a complaint against city police chief Raghavendra Auradkar accusing him of atrocity under the SC/ST Act.

Stating that the home minister who should have intervened in the matter remains a mute spectator even while the reputation of the police is "auctioned in public" by the senior officers, the letter said "the State machinery has come to a grinding halt."

The Chief Minister and the Home Minister have completely lost control over the department, it added.

The State is witnessing "a breakdown of constitutional machinery", the memorandum alleged. It also demanded an impartial probe into alleged incident involving Ravindranath.

"The Home Minister has lost control over the Department and as such he ceases to have moral authority to continue in office and we therefore, demand immediate removal of Home Minister K J George."