On Monday, soon after the murder of a Bajrang Dal worker in the state of Karnataka, Prohibitory orders were imposed in the district of Shivamogga.
26-year old Harsha, a right-wing activist, was allegedly murdered late on Sunday in the district of Shivamogga in Karnataka. The deputy commissioner of Shivamogga, Selvamani R stated that Section 144 of the CrPC had been imposed in the area. As per reports, the situation was overall peaceful and the local police and RAF had been deployed for the maintenance of law and order in the district.
The body of the deceased was taken to his residence with heavy police security after postmortem and a large number of workers of right-wing outfits were also spotted on the scene. The Chief Minister of the state, Basavaraj Bommai mentioned that few leads had been gathered during the investigation of the unfortunate incident. Home Minister of Karnataka, Araga Jnanendra also announced the closing down of schools and colleges in the city limits for the coming two days as a precautionary measure. The minister also met with the family members of the deceased and has promised swift action in the case.
The Home Minister also met with the senior police and district officers of Shivamogga. He said that they had already gotten a clue and he was not allowed to share much information as the investigation of the case was still underway. He further added that the satisfactory part was that they knew who did it and the culprit will be apprehended very soon. There were around 4-5 people involved in the incident and they will be given a stern message through this case.
The Rural Development of Karnataka, KS Eshwarappa, who is a leader of the Bhartiya Janata Party from the district of Shivamogga said that the youth got murdered by Muslim goondas and he mentioned that he was going to the area for analysation of the situation. He concluded by saying that they will not be allowing any ‘goondaism’.
The opposition party has been demanding resignation from the Home Minister over the issue and has condemned the incident. Congress Party leader and the former Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah said that the culprit should be hanged as soon as possible. This is not the first controversy of the state this month. Karnataka has been under scrutiny for the ban on Muslim girls wearing a headscarf (Hijab) to educational institutes as well. There have been violent protests all over the Southern State among youth that belong to right-wing fringe outfits extending their support to Muslim Girls. The State police have however made it clear that the murder was not related to the Hijab Row Controversy.