03 March 2025
Few more detailed gory facts about Tonka, Kasarkod Police violence has come to our attention as under:
1. On February 25, 2025 at 10.00 am Karnataka Police descended on Tonka, Kasarkod in Honnavar Taluka Taluka in Uttara Kannada District of Karnataka State in Western India. They were around 1000 personnel in uniform. 50% of them were in suspicious dress code: khaki Police uniform without their name plates and buckle numbers tagged on their shirts and with black masks covering their faces. Unusual police outfit.
2. Fishing community at Tonka Beach is in legal possession of the Coastal land from 1991 according to the knowledgeable sources. Hence are entitled to be served notice in case State Authorities need possession of the land for any purpose. So far no notices are served on any of them.
3. State Authorities are trying to take possession of the Coastal beach land at Tonka without serving notices to fishing communities by use of Police force to survey their immovable property including their land and houses for past four years.
4. This attempt has been challenged successfully by fishing communities of Tonka over this period.
5. On July 21, 2021 State administration attempted to demolish the fishing communities houses through bulldozers during heavy rains. This attempt was countered successfully by fishing communities there.
6. Local fisherman Raju Tandel filed complaint before Lokayukta, Karnataka against Assistant Director of Land Records (ADLR), Honnavar for carrying on survey in their village without serving notices to the villagers. Lokayukta took cognizance of the complaint and even indicted higher officer holding the post of Assistant Commisioner (AC) at Bhatkal in this crime. Officer went to Politicians for protection but wasn't successful. The rage accumulated against Raju Tandel was intense.
7. Raju Tandel spoke at the public protests against the illegal survey in the village with police protection and joined the group of village people to drawn themselves in waters of Arabian Sea as an expression of dissent between 10.30 am to 11.00 am. Raju was injured during this act as salty sea water entered his body; was taken to hospital where he vomited during treatment. Hospital records of 25.02.2025 notes in his case papers "alleged attempt to drawn by falling into water". After sometime with due treatment Raju Tandel was sent back and reached home at Tonka around 2.00 pm. He was resting in his house and had not taken any food intake.
8. While Raju Tandel returned home Police were providing protection to those carrying on illegal survey of the Beach locality to mark out land with installation of cement boundary stones painted with danger red on both sides of the road and marking out houses to be demolished.
9. In the meanwhile young girl from the family of Raju Tandel named Apeksha R. Tandel gave media bite that went viral during the day. She declared that she will commit suicide in case her parents are taken in Police custody.
10. Viral video attracted visit from Lady Assistant Commisioner, Bhatkal to her house along with 8 Policemen and team from Women and Child Welfare department along with Tehsildar, Honnavar to Raju Tandel's residence at 3.30 pm. They entered sitting room inside the house of Raju Tandel and questioned the girl assuming that she is a minor. They instructed villagers not to video film the discussions for some mysterious reasons. They wanted to know as to who tutored Apeksha to speak to media threatening suicide and and wanted to take her away from the village but did not do anything like that.
11. Instead Lady Assitant Commisioner went out of the house to receive the phone call on her mobile phone. Villagers standing nearby heard her telling on the phone to fetch two police vans at Tonka.
12. While still inside in his house hungry Raju Tandel got a call around 4.00 pm that Police are beating up his fellow fisher neighbour Ravi Tandel. Hearing this Raju Tandel rushed out of house into the Gallery. In the gallery police caught hold of Raju Tandel and dragged him out away from the house. There they started beating him up with lathis and fists. They then pushed him on ground and kicked him with heavy police shoes. Imagine the agony Raju has gone through already. Then they dragged him around 20 meters and pushed him inside the police van and continued to beat him up. Then police closed the door and windows of the police vans and we don't know what happened to him after that. We don't know the depth of cruelty inflicted on Raju Tandel.
13. Several more fishers were beaten up like Raju, dragged and pushed inside the police van. Mangunath Pandurang Tandel was dragged from his house toilet while answering nature's call. Ragavendra Prakash Tandel was arrested from the same house as Raju Tandel. Some of these 45 people are very vulnerable financially, medically and are still languishing inside the jail at Dharwad as of on 03.03.2025 almost a week in police lock up without freedom, without bail. None of these fishers have ventured in their cannoes for their daily fishing activities.
14. Police manhandled, beaten up, bruised several women too and were taken in custody. Some of these women includes Roja Ramesh Tandel, Padmavati Hanumant Tandel, Nagamani Deepak Tandel, Parvati Mahadev Tandel, Sunita Satosh Tandel and Roshni Datta Tandel. These women were released on the city road middle of the night at 9.00 pm by police; left to find their way home on their own. Still some more women found themselves abandoned in the city hospital at 2.00 am on 26.02.2025 as police just vanished.
15. They were taken for medical tests at Honnavar Government Hospital. Medical team at the hospital refused to treat any injuries women received due to police violence. There were bruises on faces and upper portion of women's hands when ther were violently pinched and beaten up. Hospital simply refused to put this on record. Instead hospital staff told women to tell if they got cough and fever which they were really to treat. And none had any of these sicknesses. This is a dangerous case of medical establishment colluding with police to perpetrate injustice and oppresion against fishing communities.
16. When Rekha Rajesh Tandel collapsed during protests on 25.02.2025 police refused nearby government Ambulance to be made available to take her to the hospital. Private Ambulance had to be arranged at the cost of Rs.5000/- to rush her to the hospital. A week later she is still shocked and getting treatment in ICU of the hospital while her husband Rajesh Tandel who champions turtle conservation efforts at Tonka beach is in Darward jail along with his fellow fishermen while their children are sheltered by good Samaritan somewhere at the neighbourhood.
17. While people were being taken taken into police vans to effect arrests police went on chasing people grabbed them and took away several mobile phones. Phone are not returned till date and can be termed as robbery by police personel. They did this so that there will be no video records of the constitutional violations, human rights violations. Some phone were formated immidiately to do away with video that could be used as evidence against this police action.
18. The above details indicates that fishing communities at Tonka, Kasarkod, Honnavar are subject to terrorist actions in police uniforms. There is complete collapse of police department and terrorist mindset has hijacked policing in Uttar Kannada District. Police has attracted notoriety for Karnataka Home Ministry.
19. Urgent steps are necessary to deal with this situation. This note needs to be shared widely and acted upon. Community resisting predatory attack from Police and Port authorities needs to be supported strongly in all possible ways. Condemnation statements against Atrocities committed and reported in this note needs to be issued widely. This note needs to be studied and acted upon in various study groups across India and beyond and effective strategy chalked out to deal with various aspects and challenges in sensible and sensitive manner.
Sebastiao Rodrigues
General Secretary
National Platform of Small-Scale Fishworkers (NFSF)
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