Child sacrifice defence lawyer seeks protection

A pro-Hindu fringe group has reportedly asked the defence advocate to back out of the child sacrifice case since it would embarrass several ‘prominent personalities,’ it has been alleged.

The advocate, Dinesh Hegde Ulepady, also claimed that he has been receiving threats to his life for defending Madoor Yusuf alias Isubu, arrested recently in Bangalore for his alleged underworld links. “I received a call from Mysore asking me not to fight the case of Madoor Yusuf. The caller said that things may go wrong for me and my family if I fought the case,” Ulepady said.

The advocate claimed that the man, who identified himself as a henchman of wanted criminal Ravi Pujari, spoke in Tulu for about 45 minutes.

“The conversation was friendly in the beginning, but when I refused to heed to him, the tone turned harsh and ended with a threat. The caller said that Yusuf was a Desha Drohi (traitor),” Ulepady said. 

In the purported witchcraft case in which three-year-old Priyanka Jha was allegedly sacrificed, “a prominent Hindutva fringe group asked me not to fight the case, as it would embarrass many influential people,” the advocate, who would be appearing for the accused persons, Chandrakala and Kamalaksha Purusha, said.

Ulepady said he had refused to heed to the callers in both the cases, thinking the police and law would protect him.

“But till now, I have not been provided any police protection. I have lodged complaints at two police stations — at the Barke police station in Mangalore for threat from the underworld (crime number 110/2010) and at Bunder, for threat by fringe groups (crime number 209/2010),” he said.

Ulepady alleged that police had not taken his complaints seriously.

Meanwhile, bar association president SP Chengappa opined that the threat issued against the advocate was an attack on the judiciary.

“An advocate who has filed his vakalat becomes an official of the court. Any obstruction, physically or otherwise, becomes a direct attack on judiciary” he said.
The state bar council has been sensitised about the threats faced by Ulepady.

“We have requested the police to give protection to Ulepady and help him discharge his duties in the court and dispensation of justice” Narayana Poojary, state bar council member, said.

He added that obstructing an advocate from discharging his duty amounted to contempt of court.

State bar council chairman Jayakumar S Patil said that the council would request the Mangalore police commissioner to provide security to Ulepady.

“These threats cannot be taken lightly as Mangalore has already seen the murder of another advocate in a case regarding the arrest of another underworld don,” he said.

It may be recalled that Naushad Kashimji, a human rights lawyer, was murdered by underworld thugs on April 9, 2009 for taking up the case of Rasheed Malbari, the sharpshooter of Dawood Ibrahim.