Babri demolition-linked violence case: Karnataka CM slams BJP for protest over ‘kar sevak’ arrest

The BJP’s leader of the opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka and deputy leader of opposition and Dharwad MLA Arvind Bellad were among those taken under preventive custody as they marched towards the office of the Hubballi-Dharwad police commissioner Renuka Sukumar.

Ashoka said the party will intensify its agitation in the city till the case against Poojary is withdrawn and he is released. The BJP demanded that the police inspector, who arrested Poojary, be suspended. “… Srikanth Poojary was in his 20s at the time of the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid demolition. While the Hubballi Dharwad police commissioner has labelled it a routine police procedure there are apprehensions this is a clear attempt to harass BJP activists… ,” BJP Karnataka president B Y Vijayendra, who led the party’s protest in Bengaluru, said in the memorandum to the Governor.

“They (BJP) are desperately clinging to the arrest of a criminal suspect in Hubballi to lead their baseless charge. BJP leaders need to understand that assigning caste and religious labels to criminals is extremely dangerous,” Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said.

Apart from arson and rioting, Poojary was an accused in nine cases involving illicit sale of liquor, was under preventive arrest thrice and was also an accused in a gambling case, according to the CMO.