A day after Bajrang Dal activist Harsha was “murdered” in Shivamogga district, SP Laxmi Prasad, Shivamogga, said that six have been arrested, while 12 are being questioned. Earlier, the deceased’s mother, Padma, had filed a complaint with Shivamogga police, accusing miscreants from a particular community of murdering her son. The 52-year-old stated in her complaint that some youths had issued death threats earlier due to his association with Bajrang Dal. Based on her complaint, the cops have filed the FIR.
Karnataka’s Additional DGP Pratap Reddy on Tuesday said that all the accused have been identified and the work is underway to arrest the suspects. Meanwhile, in the Karnataka hijab row issue, the government said in the High Court that the right to wear hijab does not fall under Article 25 of the Constitution; the hearing was adjourned to Wednesday. Countering the petitioner Muslim girls from Udupi district, who challenged the restriction on Hijab inside the educational institutions, the Karnataka government told the High Court that there is no restriction on wearing hijab in India with reasonable restrictions subject to institutional discipline.
On the Bajrang Dal activist Harsha’s “murder”, speaking to reporters on the outbreak of violence in Shivamogga district, Additional DGP Pratap Reddy said, “All accused have been identified. Teams are outside as well as inside the Shivamogga district. So, work is going on and we are on the verge of completing the detection and arresting the accused persons.”
Earlier, two persons were taken into police custody for allegedly torching two autos and a motorcycle in Karnataka’s Shivamogga district, informed K.C. Narayana Gowda, Minister-in-charge, Shivamogga District on Tuesday. Gowda said, “The overall situation is peaceful. The public should not worry as the situation will normalize soon. Two persons named Kasif and Nadeem-taken were into custody by police. Kasif has around 10 cases on him.”
BJP MLA M.P. Renukacharya alleged that the Congress is responsible for the murder and urged the government to hand over the case to NIA. Renukacharya said, “I am clearly stating that the Congress party is responsible for the murder of Harsha. DK Shivakumar, BK Hariprasad and other Congress leaders his murder. I urge the home minister to transfer the case to the NIA. I will give compensation of Rs 5 lakh to family members.” He further said, “Those who are involved in the murder should be killed. Earlier also there were attempts to murder him. The police failed to give security to Harsha. I am against the Muslim community, but SDPI and PFI should be banned.”
The state police have said that the law and order situation in Shivamogga district is under control. On Monday, the Shivamogga police requested the District Collector to impose a curfew in the area till Tuesday morning in view of the incident. Superintendent of Police (SP) Shivamogga, Laxmi Prasad B.M., said, “We have requested the DC to impose a curfew starting tonight till tomorrow morning.” He said that everything is peaceful after the procession ended, and the total deployment of police forces will be more than 500 in number.