The Day After: Two Arrested for Attacking Sene Chief Muthalik
Bangalore police have arrested two people and taken another three into custody for questioning in connection with the attack against Sri Rama Sene founder Pramod Muthalik, say reports.
A group of youth allegedly belonging to the youth congress had attacked Muthalik as he was getting ready to participate in a debate on Valentine’s day organized by a vernacular television network in the silicon capital.
The activists barged into the event, dragged him out, blackened his face and also tried to assault him, reported PTI News Agency.
“A clipping from an electronic media channel indicates the culprits belonged to the youth wing of a political party. This information is important for us and we are looking into it”, City Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari was quoted as saying.
He said people were free to celebrate Valentine’s Day, and couples could lodge police complaints against anyone preventing them from doing so.
Police have already begun a drive to prevent any untoward incidents on Valentine’s Day on February 14, he said, and warned of stringent action against those taking the law into their hands.
State home minister VS Acharya has said chief minister BS Yeddyurappa would meet officials Friday and review law and order to ensure a peaceful Valentine’s Day.
Meanwhile, the Congress party has sought Muthalik’s arrest for threatening to disrupt Valentine’s day celebrations but denied involvement of its partymen in the attack.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief RV Deshpande said the government should have taken the Sri Ram Sene chief into preventive custody by now.
Deshpande, however, condemned the attack.
Little known until then, Muthalik burst into national infamy after over three dozen Sene activists attacked a group of girls at a Mangalore pub in January 2009.
The attack stirred liberalists, who leveraged the internet to target Muthalik with what has come to be known as the Pink Chaddi campaign.
