Karnataka row over right-wing activist’s arrest: What is the 31-year-old rioting case all about?
Several shops were set on fire in Hubballi on December 5, a day before karsevaks demolished the Babri mosque in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh
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The FIR was filed against more than 10 people and Poojary was accused number 3. The other accused in the case include Raju, Ashok, Shanmukha, Gurunath and Ramachandra. (PTI)The arrest of a 60-year-old man in connection with a 31-year-old arson incident that took place ahead of the Babri Masjid demolition has snowballed into a political row in Karnataka.
Srikanth Poojary’s arrest was based on a case of arson reported in Hubballi a day before the mosque was demolished by karsevaks, on December 6, 1992, documents accessed by The Indian Express show.
According to a complaint by Hajratsab Maliksab Angadi lodged at the Hubli (now Hubballi) Town police station, several shops, including that of the complainant, were set on fire on December 5. Angadi alleged that he had suffered losses of Rs 80,000 because of the arson at his betel nut and tobacco stall at M G Market in the city.
The FIR was filed against more than 10 people and Poojary was accused number 3. The other accused in the case include Raju, Ashok, Shanmukha, Gurunath and Ramachandra.
Among the sections invoked against them included Indian Penal Code sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house) and 427 (loss or damage property). A chargesheet in connection with the case was filed in 1993.
Several of the accused let off or out on bail
An anticipatory bail petition filed by Raju in the Principal Sessions Judge Court in 2017 contended that his co-accused in the case had been acquitted and that a false case had been foisted against him. The public prosecutor argued against granting bail to Raju as he had been absconding till 2017. The court, however, subsequently granted him bail on a bond of Rs 50,000.
While Raju and several others were either acquitted or granted bail, three accused died during the course of the trial. Poojary and another accused were marked absconding after they failed to appear before the trial court, according to sources.
During a recent drive to arrest the accused in pending cases, the Hubballi-Dharwad police on December 29, 2023, picked up Poojary, an autorickshaw driver. The state BJP has linked the arrest with the upcoming Ram temple inauguration, accusing the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government of being anti-Hindu. The Congress and the police claim the arrest was a part of a routine police drive to dispose of pending cases.
Manjunath Poojary, son of the arrested accused, said that a few police officials came to his house and took away his father saying that they needed to question him. “I was shocked and went to the police station with him. After reaching the spot, I came to know that it was connected to a rioting incident in 1992. As my father’s both hands have been operated on, I requested the police to release him on station bail, but they produced him before the court, which sent him to judicial custody,” he said.
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