Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru/Belagavi (MS)
Updated
Bengaluru/Belagavi, Dec 19: The Sadashivanagar police here have arrested seven people in connection with the desecration of Shivaji statue here.
A few days ago, the statue of Shivaji at Sadashivanagar was smeared with black ink by some miscreants.
The arrested people include Chethan Gowda of Karnataka Ranadheera Pade.
It is said that the act was a revenge for burning the Kannada flags by the activists of MES.
The incident has created tension in the bordering town of Belagavi, as unknown people vandalised the statue of local freedom fighter Sangolli Rayanna in retaliation.
The arrested were identified as Chetan Gowda, President of Karnataka Ranadheera Pade, Gurudeva Narayankumar, Varun, Naveen Gowda, Vinod, Chetan Kumar and Yogesh Gowda. According to police, the accused desecrated the statue of Shivaji to retaliate for the burning of Kannada flag in Maharashtra's Kolhapur.
DCP, Central, Anucheth said that the accused had planned to desecrate the statue of Shivaji four days ago and executed their plan in Bengaluru last Thursday. They visited the spot on Monday and Tuesday for a recce, and made an futile attempt to desecrate the statue last Wednesday, but beat police foiled their plan. Later, a group of 13 members including the accused executed their plan on Thursday.
The accused also shot the video of their action to make it viral on social media. The Sadashivanagar police have launched a hunt for others who are absconding, the DCP added.
Meanwhile, as Kannada organisations have given a call to take out a protest march to Belagavi to condemn the incident of vandalisation of Sangolli Rayanna statue, Belagavi Police Commissioner K. Tyagarajan has issued prohibitory orders till December 22.
Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KaRaVe) activists attempted to stage a protest at Peeranawadi against the vandalization of Sangolli Rayanna statue by MES activists. When police prevented the activists, verbal argument ensued and they were taken into custody. Activists of KaRave protested under the leadership of Praveen Shetty. They raised slogans against the MES workers and urged the police to arrest them immediately.
New statue of Sangolli Rayanna unveiled in Belagavi
Following the desecration, the statue of revolutionary fighter Sangolli Rayanna was reinstalled in the city.
On the late night of Friday, December 17 miscreants had damaged the status of Sangolli Rayanna that was situated at Kanakadasa Colony of Anagola in Belagavi. The miscreants had kept the sword and shield at different places also.
A new statue of the revolutionary fighter measuring six feet in height was installed in the same spot where the earlier statue was vandalized. As per the assurance given by Belagavi police, new statue was provided by them. Pro-Kannada organizations and locals offered special puja and also bathed it with milk.
With IANS inputs