Not easy to nail Mangalore attackers

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Follow us:WhatsappFacebookTwitterTelegram.cls-1{fill:#4d4d4d;}.cls-2{fill:#fff;}Google NewsA red docket marked ‘Morning Mist’ is the only file on the Mangalore Police Commissioner’s table signifying the high priority attached to the probe into the July 28 homestay attack. The police may be trying hard to make the case watertight, but their job seems to be easier said than done.For one, contrary to Home Minister R Ashoka’s claims, the accused have not been booked under the ‘Goonda Act’. Even if the police decide to do so, they will have to go through a lengthy process.“There are certain parameters to book a person under the Goonda Act. It is invoked in serious cases involving bootlegging, gambling, disruption of public order or terrorising people, but not in a law and order problem like in the current case,” a source in the Home Department told Express.Former Advocate General Uday Holla concurs. “It is difficult to invoke provisions of the Goonda Act in the current case,” he said.“It depends on the gravity of an offence and the consistent involvement of the accused in such crimes. Individual crimes will be treated as a law and order problem and not as a public disorder, which could be a threat to the society at large. The second problem may be with the charge of dacoity. The police have arrested 22 accused out of the 26 named in the FIR, but are yet to recover the gold chain that the attackers allegedly robbed from one of the victims,” Holla said.Even former DG&IGP Shankar Bidari is skeptical about invoking the Goonda Act against the accused.“If the property involved in the crime is not recovered even after arresting all the accused, it would be difficult to prove the charge of dacoity against them,” he said.That apart, police are yet to conduct an identification parade.As days pass, the victims may find it difficult to identify the perpetrators of the crime as they would have been in a state of shock during the attack. first published:August 12, 2012, 08:44 ISTlast updated:August 12, 2012, 08:44 IST
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A red docket marked ‘Morning Mist’ is the only file on the Mangalore Police Commissioner’s table signifying the high priority attached to the probe into the July 28 homestay attack. The police may be trying hard to make the case watertight, but their job seems to be easier said than done.

For one, contrary to Home Minister R Ashoka’s claims, the accused have not been booked under the ‘Goonda Act’. Even if the police decide to do so, they will have to go through a lengthy process.

“There are certain parameters to book a person under the Goonda Act. It is invoked in serious cases involving bootlegging, gambling, disruption of public order or terrorising people, but not in a law and order problem like in the current case,” a source in the Home Department told Express.

Former Advocate General Uday Holla concurs. “It is difficult to invoke provisions of the Goonda Act in the current case,” he said.

“It depends on the gravity of an offence and the consistent involvement of the accused in such crimes. Individual crimes will be treated as a law and order problem and not as a public disorder, which could be a threat to the society at large. The second problem may be with the charge of dacoity. The police have arrested 22 accused out of the 26 named in the FIR, but are yet to recover the gold chain that the attackers allegedly robbed from one of the victims,” Holla said.

Even former DG&IGP Shankar Bidari is skeptical about invoking the Goonda Act against the accused.

“If the property involved in the crime is not recovered even after arresting all the accused, it would be difficult to prove the charge of dacoity against them,” he said.

That apart, police are yet to conduct an identification parade.

As days pass, the victims may find it difficult to identify the perpetrators of the crime as they would have been in a state of shock during the attack.