Arrest of advocate in Bantwal condemned

MANGALURU

Members of Udupi Bar Association held a demonstration protesting the alleged police atrocity on a young advocate of Bantwal Bar on Thursday in Udupi.

Addressing the members, association president B. Nagaraj said some police officers appear to be ignorant of law and behave like autocrats. Such officers recently arrested an advocate half-nude and claim what they did was right.

There are set guidelines about arrest in specific cases, he said, adding that the police have been yielding to political pressure. They need more training on handling theft cases, he said.

If the police could behave in such a rude manner with an advocate, imagine the situation of a common man, Mr. Nagaraj said.

Senior advocate Mattar Rathnakar Hegde demanded sacking of the police officer who arrested the Bantwal advocate throwing all norms to the wind.

Mangaluru Bar Association president Prithviraj Rai said on the one hand, the arrest was a violation of the Supreme Court guidelines on arrest and on the other, police have disobeyed magistrate court order on conducting an inquiry regarding the incident.