Hate speech: Jagadish Karanth granted interim bail hours after arrest

Puttur, Sep 30: Hindu Jagaran Vedike leader Jagadish Karanth, who was arrested by the police almost two weeks after delivering a provocative speech in Puttur, was released within a few hours as a local magistrate granted him interim bail in the wee hours of Saturday.

Karanth, who evaded arrest for one week, was picked up by the sleuths of Dakshina Kannada district police from an Airport in Bengaluru on Friday morning. He was brought to Puttur Town Police Station at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday. Then he was taken to a local government hospital for medical checkup.

Karanth was produced before a magistrate at latter’s house at 1:30 a.m. He was immediately granted interim bail. The next hearing is scheduled for October 3, sources said.

Karanth at a public rally at Kille Maidan in Puttur on September 15 had cast professional and personal aspersion on the police officer and invoked his religion while making those accusations.

However, police had failed to take action against Karanth for a week. This had angered Karnataka home minister R Ramalinga Reddy, who during his Mangaluru visit took Dakshina Kannada SP C H Sudheer Kumar Reddy to task.

Finally, on September 21, a case was registered in Puttur Town Police Station against Karanth under sections 505(1) c, 505 (2), 153(A), and 189 of IPC.

As soon as the news of Karanth’s arrest began to spread on Friday, his followers and hardline Hindutva activists had staged protest in Puttur demanding his immediate release.

Also Read: HJV leader Jagadish Karanth arrested over communal remarks against Puttur cop