BJP MLC CT Ravi urges Guv to take action against police officers for ill-treating him
Bengaluru, Dec 30: Karnataka BJP MLC C T Ravi on Monday urged Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to take necessary legal action against the police personnel involved in his alleged 'illegal arrest' and for ill-treating him while he was in police custody in connection with a sexual harassment case registered against him for using a derogatory word against Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar.
He also requested the Governor to arrange for immediate additional security.
Speaking to reporters here, Ravi said the incident happened inside the council and the consent of the Council Chairperson, Basavaraj Horatti, should have been sought since all the powers inside the Council vests with him. The mistake committed by the police was that the case was registered without seeking the Chairperson's consent.
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He also said that he was arrested without any evidence.
"Now they (police) are saying that they will send it (video evidence) to the Forensic Science Laboratory and need the Chairperson’s permission, but my question is whose permission was taken before arresting me. They (police) arrested me with malafide intentions by succumbing to pressure from the ministers," he added.
Recalling the December 19 episode in his letter to the Governor, the BJP leader accused top police officers of Belagavi and their subordinates of registering a case against him and ill-treating him under pressure from the ministers.
Ravi also accused them of making him travel 400 kms throughout the night of December 19 and injuring him to bleed in custody.
"The police never cared about my bleeding (head), vomiting in the police jeep, did not provide first aid and medical treatment for long hours. They made me starve without food and water for long hours, illtreated me like an animal, terribly tortured, harassed mentally and physically," he alleged in the letter.
Alleging that the police tried all possible attempts to 'eliminate' him, Ravi requested the Governor to seek a clarification from the Director General of Police on the entire episode.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
