HM Araga stokes fresh row over youth’s death

NT Correspondent

Known for raking up controversies, Home Minister Araga Jnanendra has courted a fresh controversy over the death of a youth due to stabbing in JJ Nagar Police Station limits in Bengaluru on Tuesday night.

On Wednesday morning, the Home Minister told the media that a Dalit youth, Chandru was going with his friend on a motorcycle when another bike brushed accidentally against the bike resulting in a heated argument between the two groups. Subsequently, Chandru was brutally murdered for not speaking in Urdu, he said. The entire scene has been captured in a nearby CCTV. Based on the CCTV footage, the police have arrested four persons in this connection and further investigation is on.

Close on the heels of this statement, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Kamal Pant came out with a statement that the murder took place due to a freak accident and had nothing to do with Urdu. Having got corrected by the Bengaluru top cop, the home minister said he had given a wrong statement as he was dependent on information which came from sources.

But the damage had already been done with former CM and JD(S) leader H.D.Kumaraswamy slamming the government for giving communal colour to every incident for political purposes. The home minister should have spoken to senior police officers before making such a damaging statement, he said adding that this clearly proves the communal agenda of the BJP government in the State.

Former Home Minister and KPCC Working President Ramalinga Reddy said Araga Jnanendra, a fourth time MLA, must be careful while making statements as in the hierarchy, he is second only to the CM. The incumbent Home minister had made similar statements in the past like ‘the Congress is raping me’ and ‘why should girls go out of the house after sunset’ in connection with the gangrape at the foothills of Chamundi Hill in Mysuru last year, which had raked up a big controversy. Blaming a particular community would not augur well for the BJP and would boomerang on them, he added.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai told reporters in Delhi that he did not know anything about the issue and would react after collecting details.