Prominent BJP Leaders Detained For Holding Protests in Mangaluru - Hanumantharaya DCP
by Lisa Haydon Hanumantharaya dcpSeveral prominent BJP leaders, including the party’s
Karnataka State President BS Yeddyurappa, were detained by the Mangaluru Police
on Thursday.
The leaders were ferried out of Mangaluru’s Nehru Maidan as
the BJP was holding a protest march to condemn the alleged murders of party
functionaries, despite the police refusing permission for such a protest.
Numerous BJP cadres and senior party leaders, including
Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje, Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha,
former Karnataka Home Minister and Yeddyurappa loyalist R Ashok, were detained
by the Mangaluru Police.
Thousands of party workers gathered at Mangaluru’s Jyothi
Circle and were waving the party’s saffron flags whilst chanting slogans
against the Congress-led Siddaramaiah government.
“The law and order situation in the state has deteriorated
under the Congress government. So many BJP workers have been brutally murdered.
How many more will be killed under the Congress rule?” Yeddyurappa said while
addressing the protestors.
BS Yeddyurappa, Karnataka State President
Also Read: How B’luru Police Outwitted BJP to Control
‘Mangaluru Chalo’ Rally
The party had initially planned a bike rally titled
‘Mangaluru Chalo’, for which the state police had denied permission.
“Permission was not granted to hold the rally as it would
cause traffic problems and it would become extremely difficult to maintain law
and order in the city. Besides, public rallies can stir communal tensions and
this region has just settled from a spate of communal clashes.”
Hanumantharaya DCP, Deputy Commissioner of Police
Clashes were witnessed between the BJP workers and the
police as cadres tried to cross the barricades installed to block the rally.
“The reason we’re holding a public meeting is to condemn the
murders of RSS workers in the state. We demand an NIA probe into their deaths,”
Yeddyurappa added.
The party also demanded the ban on the Popular Front of
India and the Karnataka Forum for Dignity, which the saffron party alleged was
behind the attacks on BJP functionaries.
The Mangaluru Police Commissioner said that permission was
granted for the public gathering between 11am and 2pm. “But we had not given
permission for the bike rally. Hence, we had to detain them,” the Hanumantharaya
DCP added.
Sponsor Ads
Created on Sep 14th 2017 01:05. Viewed 578 times.