Ravi Belagere flies the coop from hospital

HUBBALLI: In an interesting turn to the controversial decision of the Legislative Assembly to imprison two editors for a year, Ravi Belagere, editor of 'Hai Bangalore' slipped out of SDM Hospital, Dharwad, where he was undergoing treatment for chest pain and high blood pressure, on Monday. Senior police officers claimed he moved out of the hospital without the knowledge of doctors who were treating him and before they could initiate the process of detaining the journalist. Sources close to the editor, however, said he is likely to appear only on Tuesday or Wednesday after filing a petition in the high court, challenging the order issued by Speaker K B Koliwad, charging that it was an attempt to curtail the freedom of press.

The editor clarified earlier that he would never surrender or face a jail term. Inspector Ravi Patil and several constables of Kumaraswamy layout police station had arrived from Bengaluru and waited outside the hospital to detain the editor on completion of his treatment at SDM Hospital. They returned empty handed to Bengaluru as he was not discharged and a report of his health condition was also delayed with the staff remaining absent in view of the festival. However, few policemen were also deployed in the hospital for security. Authorities of the hospital said the editor left the hospital after completing all formalities.

"We waited for the arrest of Ravi Belagere after his discharged from the hospital as per the order of the Legislative Assembly. But, he has left the hospital without informing the authorities though we had kept close watch on him. We will launch a search operation for him and initiate arrest proceedings", Mrs Malini Krishnamurthy, the additional commissioner of police, Bengaluru (West) division, told this newspaper. Meanwhile, leader of  Opposition in the Assembly, Jagadish Shettar, opposed the move to detain the journalist without a discussion with all leaders in the  Assembly.