Miscreants will be dealt with iron hand, says CM Bommai after statues were targeted
Hubballi, Dec 19: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday appealed to people to respect iconic personalities and avoid lending ears to rumours, after miscreants targeted statues of freedom fighter Sangolli Rayanna and Shivaji in Belagavi and Bengaluru.
Tension prevailed in Belagavi bordering Maharashtra on Saturday after alleged activists of Maharashtra Ekikarana Samiti (MES) vandalised the statue of Rayanna, a 19th century icon who fought against the British, at Angol on South Belagavi, following news that a statue of Shivaji has been desecrated in Bengaluru.
"I appeal to people to respect patriots. They had laid down their lives for the nation. As a mark of respect, the statues of Kittur Rani Chennamma, Sangolli Rayanna and Shivaji Maharaj were built. We have to respect them and retain their dignity," Bommai said here.
"Be it Chatrapati Shivaji, Kittur Rani Chenamma or Veera Sangoli Rayanna, all of them fought against colonial forces for the freedom of our country," he tweeted earlier.
"Insulting any of our great national leaders in the name of language politics is disservice to their nationalistic spirit and will not be tolerated. Under no circumstances will we let miscreants disrupt law and order in Karnataka," Bommai said.
He asked people not to mix other issues to demean the contribution of historical figures.
"Our government will not tolerate anyone insulting the patriots and disturbing law and order in the state. Convey your sentiments peacefully. Whoever they are, we will deal with them with iron hand," Bommai told reporters.
Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said strict action has been taken against the miscreants who damaged the statue of Sangolli Rayanna.
The Minister said Marathi and Kannada speaking people are living in harmony in areas bordering Belagavi but some miscreants, who are "not even the dust" of great personalities, damaged their statues.
He also said that he is in touch with the police officials in Bengaluru and Belagavi to ensure that law and order is maintained.
Meanwhile, the district administration has clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in Belagavi till December 20 morning.
So far, 27 people have been arrested for vandalising Sangolli Rayanna's statue, and they have been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.
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KKR land Green for record-breaking Rs 25.20 crore; Shaw, Sarfaraz go unsold
Abu Dhabi (PTI): Kolkata Knight Riders splurged a record-breaking Rs 25.20 to land top Australian all-rounder Cameron Green even as Indian stars Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan went unsold in the Indian Premier League players' auction here on Tuesday.
Green surpassed compatriot Mitchell Starc (Rs 24.75 crore) to become the most expensive overseas player at an IPL auction. This was after Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings were involved in an intense bidding war for him before the latter emerged winner.
KKR also went after Venkatesh Iyer before pulling out of the race against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who fetched the services of the India all-rounder for Rs 7 crore.
As far as Green is concerned, his salary for the season would still be Rs 18 crore (USD 1.9 million) as the rest of the amount will go towards the BCCI's player development programme as per the rules of the auction for foreign players.
Green, who previously turned up for Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, has so far played 29 matches in the IPL to aggregate 707 runs and take 16 wickets.
Shaw, however, went unsold despite his fine run of form in the domestic circuit lately, and so was the case with Sarfaraz, who smashed a 22-ball 73 in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match for Mumbai on Tuesday.
Big-hitting South African batter David Miller was bought by Delhi Capitals for his base price of Rs 2 crore, but New Zealand swashbuckler Devon Conway, whose base price was also Rs 2 crore, went unsold in the auction.
Seasoned South African opener Quinton de Kock returned to his old base Mumbai Indians for a base price of Rs 1 crore.
A total of 359 players -- 246 Indians and 113 overseas players -- are part of the mini auction pool with the 10 franchises bidding to fill up a maximum of 77 slots, including 31 reserved for foreign players.
