BJP activists try to barge into Home Minister's house

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Several members of the BJP youth wing were detained by the police on Thursday for attempting to barge inside the premises of the residence of Home Minister Dr. G Parameshwara in the city.

The incident took place during the protest staged by the BJP party workers demanding the arrest of three Muslim girl students allegedly involved in secretly filming a Hindu girl student in Udupi, a few days ago.

Despite the district police and the college authorities issuing a clarification on the issue that no such video was found or shared, the opposition BJP party claimed it to be an organised crime against Hindu girls. The saffron party leaders attacked the Congress government for carrying out politics of appeasement by trying to hush up the case.

Following this, the BJP party staged a state-wide protest in Karnataka on Thursday. In Bengaluru, BJP party workers led by former Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan, State General Secretary and MLC N Ravikumar, and BJP MLC Tejaswini Gowda, held protests at various locations including the Freedom Park.

The protest turned violent when several members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and BJP Yuva Morcha tried to barge into the residence of Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara. The police however foiled their attempts and took them to Sadashivanagar Police Station here.

In view of the incident, security around the residence of Minister Parameshwara has been tightened. Besides erecting barricades, a platoon of the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) has been deployed at the spot.

The Udupi police had earlier maintained that they could not take up the case as there is a lack of evidence. However, after coming under pressure as the development turned out to be national news, the police lodged a suo motu case and initiated a probe.

Last year on July 30, the same protesting groups were batoncharged by the city police when they attempted to storm inside the premises of the then Home Minister Araga Gyanendra.

The police had filed an FIR against 30 ABVP activists following the incident.