Around fifty supporters of MP Chandrashekhar Azad arrested for vandalism
Prayagraj (PTI): Police have arrested around 50 supporters of Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad for resorting to vandalism on Sunday.
The angry supporters of the MP, who was stopped by police on Sunday while on his way to meet the family of a person who died of burn injuries at Isota village in Prayagraj, had created a ruckus and damaged two police vehicles.
The family of the deceased, Devishankar, had claimed that he was burnt to death after he succumbed on April 13.
Chandrashekhar had reached the Circuit House, but was stopped by police due to "security reasons", according to police.
According to Yamuna Nagar Deputy Commissioner of Police Vivek Chandra Yadav, 50 people accused of stone pelting and vandalism near Isota village have been arrested so far and the rest are being identified. Cases are being registered against these people under stringent sections.
DCP Yadav said that charges under National Security Act will be imposed on these people and the cost of damage will also be recovered.
Yadav said party workers gathered in large numbers following the information about Chandrashekhar's visit to Isota village in Karchana tehsil on Sunday. They started pelting stones after coming to know that the leader would not be coming.
The dial 112 vehicle and another vehicle were damaged by the mob, he said.
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Conspiracy afoot to 'tarnish' image of Dharmasthala: Deputy CM DK Shivakumar
Bengaluru, Aug 14 (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday said there was a “conspiracy” to tarnish the image of Dharmasthala.
His comments come amid an ongoing investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into serious allegations of mass burials in the revered temple town in Dakshina Kannada district.
“A conspiracy is being hatched to destroy hundreds of years of legacy. It is not correct to tarnish someone just like that. It has all happened due to one complainant,” he said.
Noting that some Congress MLAs have called for action against those involved in the slander campaign at the legislature party meeting, he said, “ I have told them that action must be taken against those who are indulging in a slander campaign. The CM has also said that action must be taken against such people.”
“I have information on this case. Religious feelings should not be hurt in any manner. Culprits must be punished,” he told reporters, according to a release from his office.
Responding to a question, Shivakumar said the Congress party will not allow the image of any religious place to be tarnished.
“We see everyone equally when it comes to religion,” he added.
The SIT, formed by the state government, is probing claims of mass murder, rape, and mass burials in Dharmasthala over the past two decades.
The complainant, a former sanitation worker whose identity has not been revealed, alleged that between 1995 and 2014 he was forced to handle bodies—including women and minors—and that some showed signs of sexual assault. He has given a statement before a magistrate.
As part of the probe, the SIT has been conducting exhumations at multiple locations identified by the complainant-witness in the forested areas along the banks of the Netravathi River in Dharmasthala, where some skeletal remains have been found at two sites so far.
