Bengaluru, Sep 12 (IANS): Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje on Thursday demanded a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into violence during the Ganesh idol immersion procession in Nagamangala in Karnataka's Mandya district.
Interacting with media persons in Bengaluru, she stated that only an NIA investigation would bring out the truth.
"During the Ganapati procession in Nagamangala, slippers were thrown, stones were pelted, and our (Hindus) shops were burnt," she alleged, claiming that the accused were being "protected".
Criticising State Home Minister G. Parmeshwara for calling it a small incident, she said, "If the burning of 25 shops owned by Hindus seems like a small incident to you, what a big incident would be?"
"Every time Siddaramaiah comes to power in the state, incidents take place in which Hindus are trampled. During his tenure between 2013 and 2018, a series of such incidents took place. Now, the same pattern is repeated and Hindus are targeted continuously," she claimed.
"There are allegations of corruption against Siddaramaiah and his ministers. When people are talking about such a bad government, are you orchestrating riots to cover it up?" she asked.
Two groups clashed in Mandya on Wednesday night after stones were allegedly pelted at a Ganpati idol immersion procession in Nagamangala town. Some shops and vehicles were set afire following the incident.
According to sources, some youths were taking out a procession for Ganpati idol immersion and when they were passing near a dargah in the town, a few miscreants started pelting stones at them, which subsequently led to the clashes. Police have imposed restrictive orders in the area and are on high alert.
After the incident, people from the Hindu community staged a protest at the local police station, demanding the immediate arrest of those responsible for the stone pelting.
Karnataka BJP delegation is visiting Nagamangala and Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy is paying a visit on Friday.
The prohibitory orders are clamped in the Nelamangala town and 52 people have been arrested in connection with the incident.