Alleged differences among the top brass in the State Police spilled on to the streets here on Wednesday, as Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) personnel and family members blocked Hosur Road, set tyres on fire and raised slogans against Police Commissioner Raghavendra Auradkar.
The protest that began during the peak evening hours threw vehicular traffic out of gear.
The KSRP men from the KSRP III battalion quarters in Adugodi came out expressing solidarity with the Additional Director-General of Police P. Ravindranath, who is accused of taking photographs of a woman at a coffee shop on Cunningham Road on Monday.
It was around 5.30 p.m. when some angry KSRP personnel in civil dress blocked the Hosur Road, seeking the suspension of the Police Commissioner and also Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) B.R. Ravikanthe Gowda. They also urged the State government not to accept the resignation of Mr. Ravindranath.
The protest turned violent after the City Armed Reserve (CAR) was called in to rein in the angry protesters.
Meanwhile, Home Minister K.J. George said: “This (protest) is not acceptable in a police force and the State government is monitoring the situation. The government is also thinking of taking suitable action.”
Commandant of KSRP I Battalion Sonia Narang, who was at the spot to pacify the protesters, said, “We are trying to convince our men to return to the barracks.”
Case booked under new law
Section 354 (d) of Indian Penal Code (IPC), which has been invoked, read with Section 506 of IPC, in the coffee-shop case by the High Grounds Police, is a newly amended provision.
Though the complaint and the FIR do not name any one, Additional Director-General of Police (KSRP) P. Ravindranath has been in the thick of controversy since Monday.
Sources in the Police Department said that Section 354 of IPC was amended last year and has now come to include cases of stalking and voyeurism as well.
The law was amended by Parliament in 2013 in response to the Delhi gang-rape in December 2012. At least, 210 cases of sexual harassment have been registered under the new law from January till March this year by the Bangalore police.
An official said that the particular case where the officer is alleged to have taken photographs of the complainant on his mobile phone at the coffee shop on Cunningham Road on Monday would have been earlier brought under the cyber crime laws as a mobile phone had been used.
The new law has widened the definition of sexual harassment to include the new menace of cyber stalking, voyeurism and cases involving mobile phones as well.
Section 354 (d) under which a case has been made out in the incident involving the senior police official is a section only applicable to women.
The section describes the punishable act as: “To follow a woman and contact, or attempt to contact such woman to foster personal interaction repeatedly despite a clear indication of disinterest by such woman; or monitor the use by a woman of the internet, email or any other form of electronic communication.”
