Paresh Mesta murder: After Kumta, BJP stokes Sirsi fire
Security forces from nearby districts were rushed to Sirsi and all public functions have been banned in the district for three days.
SIRSI: Unrest has gripped Karnataka’s coast, long considered a BJP bastion, with the party unleashing a political storm over the ‘killing’ of a youth, Paresh Mesta, who saffronists claim, was their worker. A day after Kumta, another town in the same district, saw BJP workers setting ablaze the car of IGP, western range, Hemanth Nimbalkar, policemen were forced to fire in the air in Sirsi to chase away protestors who hurled stones at them during a shut-down called by the BJP on Tuesday to protest the killing.
Scores of pro-Hindutva activists defied prohibitory orders by setting out in a procession, tried to set fire to a petrol station and damaged several vehicles and places of worship, forcing policemen to fire in the air after they failed to disperse these protestors by bursting teargas shells. The activists were irked over the preventive detention of former minister Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri and some other local leaders as a precautionary measure. They shouted slogans against the government and set fire to tyres in several places in the town, leaving a couple of people and two local journalists injured during the protests.
After Kumta, Sirsi feels the heat of Mesta ‘killing’
The violence,which broke during the procession taken out by BJP and Sangh Parivar activists in defiance of the prohibitory orders imposed by the police in response to their bandh call on Tuesday, saw the protesters stone shops and damage over 10 vehicles. The angry mob also tried to set a petrol bunk on fire.
Angered by the detention of BJP leader, Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri and several protesters as a precaution by the police, Hindu activists shouted slogans against the government and set tyres on fire on the streets.
Security forces from nearby districts were rushed to Sirsi and all public functions have been banned in the district for three days. The police , who claimed that provocative messages and false propaganda spread through social media about the death of Paresh Mesta had triggered the trouble, detained Chendia Popular New English School teacher, Timmappa Parameshwar Naik for posting some of them on WhatsApp.
" Some unscrupulous elements have spread false information about the death of Paresh although we have not yet received the final report of the postmortem and details from the forensic lab. We will take strict action against them under the Information Technology Act for sending such messages. We have already interrogated 19 people for misuse of social media", said Uttar Kannada deputy commissioner, S S Nakul, adding, " We had alerted Sangh Parivar leaders about a possible law and order problem if they took out a procession. But they did not respond to our offer for talks."
Western range IGP, Hemanth Nimbalkar said efforts were on to restore normalcy in Kumta and Honnavar. The police are keeping a close watch on communal messages circulated on social media,