Hindutva activist Srikant Pujari walks out of jail after getting bail in Ram temple agitation case
Hubballi (K'taka), Jan 6: Hindutva activist Srikant Pujari, who was arrested for participating in the Ram temple agitation over three decades ago, was released on bail here on Saturday.
Soon after coming out of jail, he asserted that he had fought for Ram temple in Ayodhya and would go there again.
Police said they had picked up Pujari in December, 2023, in connection with the disposal of pending cases. It turned out that the accused had participated in the Ram temple agitation in 1992.
Police, however, maintained that there were 16 cases pending against him including bootlegging and that he was designated as 'rowdy' in two police stations.
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Soon after his release from jail, Pujari expressed his gratitude to the Hindu organisations, which fought for his release.
"Thirty-one years ago I fought for the Ram temple in Ayodhya. I will go there again," Pujari told reporters.
According to him, the policemen who came to arrest him said that they wanted to take him to the market.
"The policemen did not give me any warrant or summons. They just picked me up and put me in the lock-up," Pujari said.
When asked if he was arrested intentionally by the Congress government ahead of the Ram temple inauguration on January 22, he said, "I don't know all that. They (police) just called me to the market and arrested (me)."
He dismissed the allegations that there were many pending cases against him.
"There were no cases against me. I got all of them cleared one after the other. That's why I returned from Belagavi," Pujari said.
Responding to a question, the Hindutva activist said he was in jail for eight months in 1992.
The BJP had made his arrest an issue and staged demonstrations across the state. It also launched a campaign called 'I'm a Kar Sevak. Arrest Me Too.'
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah lashed out at the BJP, saying leaders of the opposition party need to understand that assigning caste and religious labels to criminals is extremely dangerous.
"If any BJP leaders have a little wisdom, they should please read out the list of charges against this person from Hubballi and then decide whether to fight for him. Since Hindus are the majority in the population, they are also the majority in prisons. Does that mean BJP should fight for all of them because they belong to the Hindu religion," Siddaramaiah had asked.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
