BENGALURU: A Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) Commandant is in trouble for allegedly using D-group employees to clean manholes and sanitary pits on the KSRP premises in Adugodi on Wednesday.
The SHRC has sought a report from the KSRP Additional Director General of Police on complaints against commandant, Revannavar.
An eight-member team from SHRC, led by its chairperson Meera C. Saksena, raided the KSRP office at Adugodi on Wednesday afternoon.
A Jalahalli resident, Sudha Katwa, complained to the human rights commission and the raid was conducted immediately. Sudha alleged that D-group employees were cleaning sanitary pits and manholes in KSRP areas, which is a violation of the law. The complainant noted that it violated Supreme Court guidelines and urged the authorities to act against KSRP officials.
But KSRP officials told the SHRC team that there was no violation and water jets were being used to clean the manhole and drains. But local residents alleged that manual scavengers are used whenever drains are blocked on the campus. SHRC registered a complaint and sought a report from KSRP.
“Officer Revannanavar had employed his own Group-D staff to clean the clogged manhole in the area. It is also said that he had asked his employees to clean the manhole regularly. If it was an outsider who was unaware of the law we could have understood, but this has taken place in the presence of a police officer and this is inexcusable,” advocate Umapathy told Deccan Chronicle. When contacted, a KSRP officer denied the charges.
Four people, including two labourers, suffocated to death in Doddaballapur in Bengaluru Rural on April 3 when they entered a manhole to clean it.
