MLA Y Bharath Shetty addresses the media in Mangaluru on Tuesday
Kamath said he had to visit the Mangaluru East police station to ensure that the students could be released.
Addressing the media, the MLAs said the students had sought the intervention of district minister UT Khader, deputy commissioner Darshan HV and police commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy to resolve the issue before staging the protest against St Agnes (Autonomous) college’s decision to conduct examinations during the festival. Criticising the police action, Kamath said, “Deploying male police officers to handle protesting female students, and dragging them by their collars is completely inexcusable and raises serious questions about the status of women under this administration. Kamath said, “There is a strong suspicion that the police acted like Congress agents under the backing of leaders like Khader and Ivan; we demand the immediate suspension of the guilty police personnel.
He added that a student who questioned the police action was also dragged away. He alleged that police had acted under the backing of district minister UT Khader and MLC Ivan D’Souza, and demanded the immediate suspension of the personnel involved in manhandling female students. Mangaluru: City South MLA D Vedavyas Kamath and Mangaluru North MLA Bharath Shetty on Tuesday condemned the police assault on female students and ABVP activists protesting against the scheduling of semester examinations during Dasara, and criticised the state govt over its handling of the issue.