Mangaluru: Dr. Srinivas Kakkilalya, a well-known physician, hit the headlines earlier this week after a CCTV video from a local supermarket went viral, showing him arguing with a supermarket owner who objected to the doctor not wearing a mask.
Dr. Kakkilaya was arrested under Section 4, 5 and 9 of the Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Act of 2020. Now he has written to the Mangaluru City Police, requesting that the people behind the audio clips be charged, citing one of the clips in which a person pretending to be Mr Pai is heard illegally instigating the person on the other end of the line to file a false complaint against Kakkilaya and put him behind bars.
In his complaint to the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Mangaluru East Police Station, Kakkilaya has written “I have been a regular customer of Jimmy’s Super Market, Kadri for more than a decade and the owner of the staff of the supermarket are acquainted with me. It is seen that the owner of the Jimmy’s Super Market illegally and unlawfully circulated the CCTV footage of the said incident to social media which resulted in the issuance of several defamatory statements and articles in my name, all over the country and beyond. This selective and illegal leak of CCTV footage, with audio recordings, appears to be a deliberate attempt to malign me and cause me immense harm.
“Since last 3 days, 2 audio clippings are going viral too, which seem to be recorded telephonic calls made by one Mr Pai to the owner of Jimmy’s Super Market and another audio file having the other voice who claims to be my neighbour. I am enclosing herewith the compact disk comprising a recording of these two audio clips” he added in the complaint.
“In the aforesaid audios, the person who claims himself as Mr Pai is heard illegally instigating to the person on the other side of the call to file a false complaint against me and make me put behind the bars. He has also defamed me and my family and my late father, a freedom fighter, who also led a team for Goa liberation struggle, a member of Rajya Sabha and two time MLA of Karnataka, who sacrificed his all for the country and our people and is highly respected, by using abusive words like a rascal, and other highly derogatory words. In the same audio clip, Mr. Pai is also heard illegally instigating the supposed shop owner to physically attack me. It is evident from another audio clipping that he is also hand in glove with the person who is said to be a neighbour of mine and both by joining hands with each other have been constantly monitoring and following me and my family members, thereby hatched the conspiracy to commit an act of threat, intimidation to my life and my reputation. The person claiming to be my neighbour in the second audio is also heard falsely claiming that I have been arrested from my house, and this false claim, having gone viral, caused immense anguish to all my wife and son and all family members and well-wishers, and this false claim also resulted in many news portals carrying the same false news, further causing me immense harm.
“The illegal recording and deliberate leaking of these audio clips appear to be suggesting that these people are clearly keeping track of my movements, creating and spreading false information, and are intended to cause me physical harm, and to cause immense damage to my hard-earned reputation and respect and also to insult my family and my late father Sri BV Kakkilaya” he added.
Dr. Kakkilaya demanded that “your good self take cognizance of the offence, file the case, and take effective penal actions against the individuals who have committed the aforesaid penal offences.”
