Karnataka government to knock High Court doors

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Monday said it has decided to approach the High Court for the appointment of 'Claim Commissioner' for the purpose of assessment of damages caused to private and public property during last week's violence in the city, and recover the costs from the culprits.

It also said stringent action has been initiated against those responsible for the violent incidents, including invoking the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa chaired a meeting with Home minister Basavaraj Bommai and senior state government officials today in this regard.

"Our Govt has decided to assess the damages caused to the public & private property in the violent incidents in KG Halli & DG Halli & recover the costs from the culprits. We will approach Hon'ble High Court for the appointment of Claim Commissioner as per Hon'ble Supreme Court order," Yediyurappa tweeted.

"Stringent action has been initiated against the culprits of DJ Halli and KG Halli violent incidents including invoking of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act - UAPA Act," he said in another tweet. The state government had last week decided to recover the loss caused to public and private property during the violence in parts of the city on August 11 night, by making rioters pay for it.

"It was resolved in the meeting to approach the High Court for the appointment of Claim Commissioner as per the order of Supreme Court for the purposes of assessment of damages caused to private and public property and for recovery from the culprits," the Chief Minister's office said in a statement.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Home Minister Bommai said, following the directions of the Chief Minister to recover losses from the rioters, the state government through Advocate General will file an appeal before the High Court seeking appointment of Claim Commissioner immediately.

The Chief Minister at the meeting was briefed by the officers about the stringent action initiated against the culprits, including invoking the UAPA, he said. The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar, Advocate General Prabhuling Navadagi, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajanish Goel, DGP Praveen Sood, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant and other senior police officials.

Stating that a Special Investigation Team has already been formed to investigate the incident in a thorough manner, the CMO statement said a team of three special public prosecutors would be appointed for conducting the cases.

The violence in D J Halli and adjoining areas on August 11 night was unleashed by hundreds of people over a purportedly inflammatory social media post allegedly put out by P Naveen, a relative of Pulakeshinagar Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy.

The MLA's residence and a police station at D J Halli were torched by rioters who also set many police and private vehicles afire, and looted the belongings of the legislator and his sister. Bommai in response to a question said, "cases are being registered and whether the culprits had any links with any of the organizations, will come out during the investigation, based on which we will take further necessary action."

Asked about the involvement of outsiders, he said, "more than 300 arrests have happened, still few more people need to be arrested. Few people are directly involved in the incident, while some were behind the scenes, like conspiracy and other things. Detailed investigation is underway... can't share everything now, but we are at it."