Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said here on Tuesday that the State government might frame a policy to have clarity on giving compensation to the families of those who die in police firing while maintaining law and order.
The government has withheld the compensation of ₹10 lakh each it had announced for the families of the two persons who died in police firing during a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Mangaluru on December 19. Asked about this, the Minister said that in 2006, when two persons died in a police firing at Mulki in Dakshina Kannada, the then State government had not given any compensation to their families.
A group of persons who came in a multi-utility vehicle had attacked Sukhananda Shetty, a BJP leader who was also a marble trader, near Kulai-Honnakatte Junction in Surathkal on December 1, 2006. He died on the way to the hospital in Mangaluru. There was violence while the body was being taken in a procession from the hospital in Mangaluru to Mulki. The police had to resort to lathi-charge, burst tear gas shells and open fire, and it led to the death of two persons who were said to be Hindu Jagarana Vedike activists. Then, a JD(S)-BJP coalition was heading the government.
Mr. Bommai said that following the police firing on December 19, there were demands to give compensation to the families of two victims. But the FIR names Jaleel and Nauseen, the two deceased, as the accused. Meanwhile, the Minister added, some people brought to the notice of the government the 2006 incident. So, there needs to be clarity on the matter, Mr. Bommai said.
The matter of framing a policy on this will be discussed with Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and a final decision on compensation disbursal will be taken, he said.
Mr. Bommai also claimed that the government had not officially announced compensation for the two families, and had merely “discussed” the matter.
