Karnataka High Court grants bail to five accused in Mumtaz Ali case
Mangaluru: The Karnataka High Court has granted bail to five of the six accused in the Mumtaz Ali case, with the exception of the first accused, Rehmat.
The five accused who were granted bail are Abdul Sattar, Rehmat's husband; Kalandar Shafi; Mustafa; Shuaib, a resident of Krishnapur; and Siraj, the driver of Sattar's car.
Mumtaz Ali, a businessman, was found dead in the Falguni River on October 8, 2024. His brother, Haider Ali, had filed a complaint against the six accused, alleging that they had mentally harassed Mumtaz, leading to his suspected suicide.
The Kavoor police had registered a case and submitted a 2255-page charge sheet to the Mangalore 3rd Additional District Court. The accused had filed a bail application in the Karnataka High Court, which was granted.
The court's decision comes after the Supreme Court dismissed an application by the police to take three of the accused into additional custody for further investigation.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
