Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (DV)
Mangalore, May 2: Five activists of Bharat Kranti Sena, an outfit led by Pranavananda Swami, were on Friday May 2 arrested after they staged a protest outside Malabar Gold jewellery store alleging that it was 'using Hindu youths to smuggle gold from foreign countries'.
However, Pranavananda Swami himself was not present during the protest, and sources said that he was out of station.
Even as Bharat Kranti Sena activists were getting ready for the protest, the police asked them not to agitate. However, the activists defied the police and began shouting slogans against Malabar Gold.
The protestors alleged that Malabar Gold is 'trapping Hindu youths to smuggle gold from foreign countries'. The police immediately arrested the activists and took them away.
The arrested were identified as Rajesh Poojary, national vice-president of the Sena, Lohith Kumar L, Sena state president, Udaya Shankar, chief secretary, Naveen and Hemanth Kumar.
Initially, only a few activists gathered near the Malabar Gold for the protest. After the arrest of five activists, another group of youths arrived at the spot. The police told them to leave, and they immediately obeyed. It is said that the youths were also activists of Bharat Kranti Sena but they came late.
As customers at the jewellery store were more than the usual number on account of Akshaya Tritiya, high police security was deployed at the spot. In fact, there were more policemen than protestors.