Bengaluru: V Shashidhar sent to judicial custody for provoking police

Updated: Thursday, June 2, 2016, 13:02 [IST]

Bengaluru, June 2: V Shashidhar, a police constable-turned-RTI activist was arrested on Wednesday night, June 1, for provoking other police constables to protest against the ruling Congress government in Karnataka.

Shashidhar had planned to spearhead a strike on June 4, protesting exploitation, low pay and poor working conditions.

"A case has been registered at Yelahanka New Town police station and Karnataka police association president Shashidhar has been arrested and presented before local court which remanded him to judicial custody till June 16," Bengaluru Police Commissioner N S Megharikh told a news agency.

Earlier on Tuesday, Karnataka government stringently warned against the planned agitation and invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) for maintaining public order and safety across the state.

Despite the warning, the Karnataka state police association which includes a 60,000 constabulary force has decided to push forward with their en masse leave on Saturday.

Shashidhar alleged that constables are being forced to work for irregular and long hours, without proper leave mechanism and harassment by senior officers.

Earlier also, he had raised his voice aganist Home Minister of Karnataka , Dr G Parameshwara and had sought for direction to the Governor's office to consider his representation submitted on January 20, 2016 to disqualify G Parameshwara for holding office of profit.

Shashidhar also sought action from the Chief Secretary to stop providing various benefits to Home Minister including pay and perks for public servants.