Pics: Kishore Peraje
Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal (SP)

Bantwal, Mar 22: Congress leaders as well as workers went in a procession to the town police station located at B C Road on the evening of Friday March 21, demanding immediate action against Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat for allegedly delivering inflammatory speeches that had the potential to whip up communal passions.

They handed over a memorandum to Dakshina Kannada district superintendent of police, Dr Sharanappa, who was camping in the town in relation to a murder case. In the memorandum, they drew the attention of the police that Dr Bhat had delivered communally provocative speeches at Salethur, Gurpur, as well as B C Road in the recent past, and sought immediate legal action against him.

“Although Congress zilla panchayat member, Chandraprakash Shetty, had not launched any personal vilification against Dr Bhat at the Congress party’s harmony meet held at Kalladka recently, the BJP has been unnecessarily cooking up false stories. Former president of Narikombu village, Anand Salian, who was present at the said meeting, was injured in the head due to stone pelting. Wind shields of cars belonging to other leaders like K Sanjeeva Poojary Bollayi, Bolantoor Chandrashekhar Rai and Madhava S Mave, were shattered. The motor bike of Congress activist, Raghava Poojary from Veerakmbha, was damaged, and another car was torched,” said Congress spokesperson, K Harikrishna Bantwal, and zilla panchayat member, M S Muhammed.

Noting that the police had recorded the addresses delivered by Dr Prabhakar Bhat and Chandraprakash Shetty, they wanted the department to go through these recordings and punish the guilty.

Zilla panchayat member, Mamata S Gatti, Congress Bantwal block committee president, K Mayilappa Salian, Panemangalore committee president, Abbas Ali, taluk panchayat standing committee chairman, Sampatkumar Shetty, and several other leaders took part in the procession.