Shobha leads protest against arrest of angry Simha who drove through barricades

Mysuru, Dec 4: Even though the local unit of Bharatiya Janata Party withdrew its Hunsur bandh call on Monday a day after Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha was arrested for violation of prohibitory orders, a protest meet was held under the leadership of Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje at Gandhi Chowk in the city.

Tension prevailed in the town as violence was witnessed during the celebration of Hanuma Jayanti on Sunday. MP Prathap Simha had been arrested and released on Sunday. However, a group of BJP workers, led Karandlaje staged a protest, condemning the MP’s arrest and state government's decision to impose restrictions on the celebration of Hanuma Jayanti.

The agitating BJP workers said that the state government is imposing restrictions on celebrating Hindu religious functions. The Congress government has hurt the sentiments of the Hindus by not allowing the celebrations of Hanuma Jayanti, they alleged. The protesters expressed their anguish by raising slogans against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

On Sunday, the police took Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha into custody, when he tried to enter the town by driving his car into the barricades at Bilikere near Hunsur in Mysuru district.

Earlier in the day, violence erupted in the town in connection with the procession organised by Hindutva organisations to mark Hanuma Jayanti. The police resorted to mild lathi charge to bring the situation under control. The procession was cancelled due to the violence.

Trouble started when the saffron activists started threatening the police to remove barricades and allow them to carry out procession in the prohibited area. As Eid Milad was celebrated on Saturday, the police had identified a specific route for the Hanuma Jayanti procession.

According to the police, the taluk administration had given permission to take out a procession from the Hanuman temple to the Hunsur municipal office. But the organisers decided to take the procession towards Ranganath Layout and also did not begin it on time. So,the police denied permission to take out the procession.

Angered by this, the saffron activists held a protest in front of the Hanuman temple. The organisers changed the route on Sunday morning. The district administration had clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in the town from Saturday, except on the identified procession route.

In the meantime, Simha was on his way from Mysuru to Hunsur. The police stopped him near Bilikere on the Mysuru-Hunsur Road, asking him not to head further due to the tense situation. But Simha did not listen to the police. He took the driver's seat of his official vehicle, hit the barricades and headed towards Hunsur.

However, the police stopped him from entering Hunsur town and took him into custody. The Bilikere police booked Simha under various sections of the IPC for obstructing policemen from performing their duty, and rash and negligent driving. About 300 others were also taken into custody.