Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (ANK)

Mangaluru, Sep 4: Condemning the incident where police allegedly showed 'disrespect' to Quran and 'tore' Madrasa books while conducting a search at the house of an accused in connection to the murder of RSS worker Sharath Madivala, United Muslim Organisation said that the incident had 'hurt the religious sentiments of the Muslim community'.

Addressing mediapersons here on Monday, September 4, president of the organization and former mayor K Ashraf said, "This act has hurt the entire Muslim community. We are not defending the accused, but we condemn the act of disrespecting the Quran and tearing Madrasa books.

"Police are biased in handling the investigation. In Ashraf Kalayi murder case, the conspirator was neither arrested nor was his house raided by the police. But in Sharath murder case, the police, despite already arresting the culprits have raided their residence. Even the conspirators of Kalladka stone pelting incident are roaming free.

"Kalandar’s family is co-operating with the police in the investigation. But the police are harassing them. We demand the suspension of three policemen, namely Bantwal SI Rakshith Gowda, Uppinangady SI Nandakumar and Puttur CI Mahesh Prasad for showing disrespect to the Quran during the raid. We are also planning to hold a massive protest on September 8 condemning this shameful incident," he added.

When queried about seeking clarification with SP Sudheer Kumar Reddy by watching the unedited video which was taken during the raid, Ashraf said, “No. We have not met SP Sudheer Kumar Reddy as we clarified about the incident with the family members and also checked the photographs which are being circulated. We have faith in the family members as they cannot lie regarding the holy book,” he stated.

When asked if he would clarify regarding the incident with SP Sudheer Kumar Reddy before calling for protest, Ashraf said, "The police should show the video in the presence of our members, family members and also local political leaders. If we are convinced with the video, we are ready to withdraw the protest and apologize."

Members of the organization Hameed Kudroli, Abdul Jaleel, Ashraf Kinara, Ismail Shafi and others were present.

However, soon after Kalandar's family made the allegations against the police of disrespecting the Quran, SP Sudheer Kumar Reddy denied the allegations and clarified that the police personnel in the search team did not touch any religious book. He also said that the police have video recording as proof. The video was also shown to media persons and it was found that the SP was right.

Regarding the photographs of the spot, purportedly showing Quran on the floor, he said that the police have enough evidence to prove that it was planted by mischief mongers to spark unnecessary tension and added that strict action would be taken against anyone who is found guilty of the act.