Mangaluru deaths: 14 appear at magisterial probe

As many as 14 people appeared for the magisterial inquiry conducted by Udupi Deputy Commissioner G Jagadeesh at the AC court hall of the mini-Vidhana Soudha here on Tuesday.

The government had ordered the magisterial enquiry and the CID investigation into the police firing that claimed two lives in Mangaluru on December 19. Jagadeesh had appealed to eye-witnesses and those with evidence or any information about the incident to depose before him. The hearing was scheduled to begin at 11 am. But the witnesses began trickling in and deposing before the inquiry, only after 11.45 am.

The staff were seen making enquiries many times on whether anyone would depose for the inquiry.

“The government had directed me to look into the reasons for the violence, the deaths and whether the police firing was justified or not,” he said.

The police will depose later. Doctors who conducted the autopsy of the deceased and forensic experts will also be summoned. Close relatives of the deceased will be given an opportunity to submit information, said Jagadeesh.

To a query on those who were injured in the lathi-charge and police firing, Jagadeesh said that the government order had not mentioned about it.

“The magisterial inquiry will be conducted as per the guidelines of the National Human Rights Commission and the Supreme Court,” he explained.

As per the government order, the report on the December 19 violence will have to be submitted before March 23. The report will be submitted to the government and the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC), he added.

Eyewitnesses demanded justice for the families of those who were killed in the firing, Jaleel and Nausheen, during the hearing.

Shahnaz, who deposed before the inquiry, later spoke to reporters. He wondered as to how the police had failed to secure footage of the police firing.