A special court for people’s representatives has directed the Karnataka Police to register a case against Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister KS Eshwarappa over his alleged provocative speech following Bajrang Dal member Harsha’s murder in Shivamogga in February.
Hearing a private complaint registered by Riyaz Ahamed, a resident of Shivamogga, judge Preeth J ordered the Doddapete police to investigate the case under section 156 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). KS Eshwarappa (accused 1) and another Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Channabasappa (accused 2) have been named as the respondents in the case.
Riyaz alleged that even before the Doddapete police arrested the accused in the murder, Eshwarappa had begun propagating publicly that Harsha was killed due to “political and religious” causes. Riyaz alleged that the Eshwarappa tried to promote enmity between Hindus and Muslims and incited people. Eshwarappa’s words, Riyaz said, triggered a violent funeral procession on February 21 in which stones were hurled at buildings and vehicles were torched. Eshwarappa, incidentally, was also part of the funeral procession.
Riyaz said that he had filed a complaint before the police but it was not considered due to the political powers of the alleged culprits.
Harsha was killed in the Doddapet police station limits of Shivamogga when he was out for dinner with a couple of his friends on February 20. The Karnataka Police arrested 10 people in connection with the murder and later invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against them. Last week, they handed over the investigation to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
This article first appeared on indianexpress.com
