Bantwal cops accused of intervening in court case

Prof Narendra Nayak, president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA), has accused the Bantwal police of interfering in a court case.

He has said that the police forced a complainant to sign an affidavit when the case was pending in the court.

Nayak told reporters at Hotel Woodlands on Tuesday that a cheque issued by Gurushivadutt to Keshava Moorthy C – both residents of Idkidu village in Bantwal – had bounced, prompting Moorthy to file a case in Puttur court in December 2018. The case is pending for trial.

Moorthy had earlier filed a case in the consumer court against Rajendra Kuppetti, who was running a mid-brain activation centre in Puttur. Kuppetti was accused of collecting money from the parents of schoolchildren in the name of activation. On May 7, 2019, Gurushivadutt filed a complaint in the Vittal police station, accusing Moorthy of receiving Rs 60,000 through cryptocurrency. Moorthy had moved an application in court seeking bail.

Nayak said that the Bantwal Circle Inspector Sharana Gowda and Vittal ASI Dhananjay had summoned Moorthy to Bantwal police station. They allegedly threatened to have Moorthy imprisoned if he refused to withdraw the cheque bounce case against Gurushivadutt as well as the case filed in consumer court against Kuppetti. Moorthy was reportedly made to sign an affidavit through a notary on Basava Jayanti, a public holiday, and declare on withdrawing the cases pending in court.

Moorthy was also prevented from meeting his lawyer, alleged Nayak, and highlighted the nexus by pointing out that the witness for the first affidavit was Kuppetti and the witness for the second was Gurushivadutt.

Nayak said that a complaint against Sharana Gowda and Dhananjay was submitted to District Superintendent of Police B M Lakshmi Prasad.

The SP told DH that he had directed the Puttur assistant superintendent to investigate the complaint and submit a report.