SHIVAMOGGA: At least 20 people were injured on Monday and around 50 vehicles torched during the funeral procession of a
Bajrang Dal
worker who was murdered on Sunday. The police had to resort to lathicharge and fire teargas shells.
Curfew was imposed in
Shivamogga
— about 270 km from Bengaluru.
Harsha, 28, was stabbed by a group of men on Sunday night while he was on his way to have dinner at Bharathi Colony near New Thirthahalli Road here. He died during treatment. A day later, the police arrested three persons — Khasif, and Sayed Nadeem from Shivamogga and another person from Bengaluru.
Sources in police said Harsha was an active member of Bajrang Dal for the last five years and worked for a courier delivery agency. He was reportedly attacked in the past for his hate posts on social media, they added.
The police also suspect that his recent derogatory post on social media pertaining to the hijab protests could have angered some people.
Harsha’s pictures in a saffron scarf, protesting at Sahyadri College in Shivamogga, which is in the thick of the hijab controversy, were shared on his social media pages after his murder.
There were reports of sporadic violence on Sunday night soon after Harsha’s murder, but police had managed to bring it under control. However, trouble began around 11.30am on Monday when the funeral procession began from McGann Hospital, after the post-mortem, to the Rotary cemetery in Vidyanagar.
Defying prohibitory orders, an estimated 1,000-strong mourners unleashed violence when the procession was passing through Seegahatti, where Harsha lived. They ransacked shops, hotels and damaged private vehicles parked on Azad Nagar and New Thirthahalli Road.
Vegetable and fruit stalls were also vandalised in some areas, and tyres were set on fire even though heavy police force was deployed to prevent a flare-up. Even mediapersons and their vehicles were not spared.
Educational institutions, government offices, shops, commercial establishments, malls, petrol bunks and markets remained closed throughout the day. The state government deployed about 1,200 policemen from different districts to Shivamogga.
The home department has deputed senior officers to monitor the situation and a platoon of Rapid Action Force has also been summoned from Chennai. Shivamogga district minister KS Eshwarappa said he will urge CM
Basavaraj Bommai to hand over the murder probe to National Investigation Agency.
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