Bajrang Dal activist murdered, Shivamogga tense

Shivamogga: Shivamogga, the second political hub of Karnataka after Bengaluru, went on a tailspin after the 26-year-old Harsha, a Bajrang Dal activist was murdered by unidentified persons on Sunday late night. Police have arrested three persons in the connection. The law and order situation in the city had gone bad on Monday. Two-wheelers were torched cars and buildings were damaged in stone-pelting incidents in several localities of the city.

The trouble began in the morning after the news of the murder had spread in the city. Stones were pelted on the procession carrying the mortal remains of Harsha, which had enraged groups of people who started retaliating by attacking the localities of a minority community in places like Azad Nagar and adjoining areas.

Following this, the district administration had tightened the law and order by deploying additional forces all over the city and the district. According to Additional Director General of Police Murugan S, the trouble had started in connection with the murder of the activist, "We have already arrested two persons and investigation is on. At this point, I appeal to the people of Shivamogga to maintain calm and peace and not to take the law into their hands we are there to help".

According to the Superintendent of police B M Laxmi Prasad, all other towns including Sagara has been put under tight police bundobust.

Who was Harsha?

Harsha had been a hardliner activist of Bajrang Dal- a fringe group of BJP for the last eight years and was doing some odd jobs for a living and mainly living off the family income. His father runs a tailoring shop, both his elder sisters are married. His father Nagaraj told Hans news service that his ancestors had migrated from southern parts of Maharashtra into Shivamogga and settled here.

"My son Harsha was known for his integrity and character. He was very virtuous and helpful to the community, he was known as 'Hindu Harsha' in Shivamogga city, I do not know what went wrong, he went out with two people out for dinner on Sunday at about 7.30 pm and by 9.30 pm we got the news of his murder". A grieving Nagaraj told.

The district in-charge minister KS Eshwarappa and also a senior BJP leader led the procession. Later speaking to the press Mr Eshwarappa had attributed the murder to Muslim goondas and said there were lots of people who participated in the riots on Monday from outside Shivamogga and had a major part in the riots. I have already spoken to the Chief Minister on this and wanted the incident to be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). On the other hand, the Congress leaders have started their tirade against Eshwarappa and BJP. Eshwarappa said MLC B K Hariprasad had attributed the murder of Harsha to him which was both hilarious and irresponsible which is why I am asking for an NIA investigation. He said he had intel inputs that the three persons arrested at Shivmogga were Muslim goondas who were a part of the conspiracy against India Eshwarappa said.

KPCC president DK Shivakumar and opposition leader S Siddaramiah had condemned the incident but were against attributing it to Muslims and wanted the investigation to be completed before fixing the responsibility on somebody for the murder.