Judicial Probe Ordered Into Karnataka Firing

The Karnataka government has conceded the demand of the opposition by ordering a judicial probe into Mondays police firing on the workers of Valliyappa Textiles Ltd, a textile mill falling under Ramanagaram assembly constituency where bypolls will be held.

Announcing the decision of the state government Chief Minister J H Patel said: We also want to unearth the truth and the best way to achieve it is through a judicial probe.

Two more have succumbed to their injuries, taking the death toll in the firing to five. A grant of Rs 1 lakh to the kin of those killed has been announced. CPM-affiliated Citu, which controls the workers union of Valliyappa Textiles, the Congress, the BJP and many other trade unions had demanded a judicial probe. H D Kumar-aswamy, MP and son of Prime Minister Deve Gowda was the first to demand a probe. Patel also said the labour department has initiated moves to settle the industrial dispute in the mill.

Meanwhile, workers belonging to various industrial establishments in and around Bangalore staged a huge demonstration on a call given by Citu and presented a memorandum demanding action against the mill owner and the police to the Chief Minister and the Governor.