From Our Special Correspondent

Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Jan 4: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has refuted media reports, particularly in a section of media, on the State government reopening the Datta Peetha issue at Bababudanagiri in Chkkamagaluru district as ‘’totally false and baseless.’’

In a statement, the chief minster has requested the visual media not to become tools of BJP in peddling fake news and denied that the destruction of the Bababudanagiri tomb case is being reopened by the Congress government.

Siddaramaiah said the Bababudanagiri tomb destruction case was registered in 2017 and the issuance of summons to the accused by the courts in part of the legal process.

The case was registered in 2017 and the prosecution had sought the government’s permission to proceed with the case on March 19, 2020. The State government had accorded permission on September 7, 2023 and a chargesheet was filed against the accused on October 24, 2023, he said.

The court has issued summons to the accused to appear before it on January 8 and this is part of the legal process, he explained.

"The issuance of summons by the court to the accused to appear before it following the filing of chargesheet is part of the normal legal process,’’ he said and made it clear that the Congress government has not reopened the case as claimed by some BJP leaders.

"In any case, the media should not become a tool in the designs of BJP in peddling fake news to arouse communal passions and project the Congress government as anti-Hindu,’’ he added.