Top police brass in coastal Karnataka changed in wake of communal murders

In the wake of a fresh cycle of communal murders in the coastal regions of Mangaluru and Dakshina Kannada over the last month, the Karnataka government after being under pressure from its local party unit, has effected a series of changes to senior police officers deputed to the region.

- GNS News Agency, June 5

On Thursday, the government appointed Deputy Inspector General-rank officer C H Sudhir Kumar Reddy as the new Mangaluru police commissioner, in place of the incumbent Anupam Agrawal. Reddy, who served previously as the superintendent of police (SP) of the Dakshina Kannada region, is currently a joint director in the state intelligence department. He is considered to have extensive knowledge of the coastal region and is regarded as a no-nonsense police officer. The government also appointed the current SP for the coastal Udupi region, K Arun, as the new SP of the neighbouring Dakshina Kannada district in place of the incumbent officer, N Yathish. Arun is considered to be familiar with policing the communally polarised coastal region on account of a fairly successful tenure of 21 months in the neighbouring coastal Karnataka region. While Agrawal served a 21-month tenure as Mangaluru police commissioner, Yathish held the Dakshina Kannada post for less than a year. Agrawal has been moved to the Economic Offences unit of the CID, and Yathish is yet to be posted. The Karnataka government has also appointed former Mangaluru deputy commissioner for law and order, Hariram Shankar, who is currently with the state intelligence department, as the new SP for the Udupi region. The order for the change of guard of the top police brass for the coastal Karnataka region came on a day when many leaders of the minority unit of the ruling Congress party in coastal Karnataka submitted resignations to protest three communal killings in the region. The cycle of murders occurred after a la