Udupi video incident: Govt appoints S Belliyappa as new investigation officer
Udupi: As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues its protests over the Udupi washroom video case, the Karnataka government has appointed S Belliyappa, deputy superintendent of police (SP) of Kundapur, as the new investigation officer (IO) to handle the case, said Udupi SP, Akshay Hakay Machhindra, on Saturday evening.
The change in the investigation officer comes as a response to demands from Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and BJP. They sought a different officer to be assigned to the case, leading to the replacement of the current IO, Manjunath Gowda, with Belliyappa.
However, the move was met with criticism from Congress leader Prasad Raj Kanchan, who accused the MLA of Udupi of prioritising politics over development activities. He stated that the BJP leaders failed to address issues in Udupi, such as industrialisation and youth employment, during their time in the state assembly.
Addressing the media on Saturday, he said, “If the police authorities are not working to provide justice to the victim in the college washroom video case, they can protest against them. But the police are doing their duty. No police officials have been transferred after the formation of the new government. The police officials who worked during the BJP government are investigating the case, but protesting against them by the BJP is condemnable.”
Prasad Raj Kanchan clarified that the police officials followed the law in their investigation, and the delay was due to the absence of any formal complaints. The leader further revealed that a suo motu case has now been filed, and the investigation is underway. Defending the police department, he assured that the state government would strive to ensure that the justice prevails.
Regarding the protest by the ABVP, he said, “There was no necessity of protest by the ABVP after the investigation began. Even after Khushbu Sundar, a member of NCW, visited Udupi and stated that the investigation is taking place and there is no evidence for a crime, they continued their protest.”
“The home minister has requested to allow the police officials to do their duty. The case will be investigated, and if the accused is found guilty, they will be punished,” he said.
