Congress holds silent protest for equal justice in murder cases

Congress

The minority cell of the Congress on Tuesday held a silent protest before the town hall here urging the government to provide equal justice to the families of those killed in recent alleged communal violence in Dakshina Kannada district.

The protest was against the alleged discriminatory attitude of the government in handling the murder cases of Masood of Bellare and Fazil in Surathkal, while the case relating to the murder of BJP youth wing leader Praveen Nettar is being vigorously pursued.

The government has also not distributed compensation to the families of Masood and Fazil, while Nettar’s family was given compensation immediately after the murder. The protest began after Masood’s mother and Fazil’s father garlanded the statue of B R Ambedkar in front of the town hall.

Talking to reporters, Congress leader and former minister B Ramanath Rai said while stringent action should be taken against the accused in the three murders, the protest is against the discriminatory approach of the State government.

He said the conspirators behind the murders should be arrested. No Congress activist was involved in such crimes, he said and wanted the people to not vote for the parties behind the murders.

The government should form a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate into the crimes to check communal violence and restore harmony in the district, Rai said.

Former MLAs J R Lobo, Abhayachandra Jain, DK district Congress committee minority cell president Shahul Hameed and youth Congress leader Mithun Rai were among those present.