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President of the Rashtriya Hindu Jagarana Vedike Mahesh Shetty Thimarodi, who has also been at the forefront of the movement demanding justice for Sowjanya, was taken in for questioning by the Udupi district police on Thursday, August 21.
Mahesh Shetty had been booked by the Brahmavara police in Udupi district on August 18, for allegedly making derogatory remarks about BJP national organising secretary BL Santhosh.
Brahmavara police registered a case against him under Sections 196 (1), 352 and 353 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) based on a complaint by BJP mandal president Rajeev Kulal.
Prohibitory orders will be in place in a 500-metre radius around the Brahmavara police station for 24 hours starting from 1pm on August 21, according to an order issued by the Udupi Deputy Commissioner.
On August 20, the Brahmavara police issued a notice to Mahesh for the second time, directing him to appear before the Brahmavara sub-inspector. Directing him to appear before the police for questioning on August 21, the notice also said that he would be arrested if he failed to do so.
Brahmavara police arrived at Mahesh’s house in Ujire, Dakshina Kannada district, on Thursday morning to escort him.
Amid slogans of “Justice for Sowjanya” and “Bharat mata ki jai” raised by his supporters, Mahesh finally walked to his car. Girish Mattananavar, another activist who has been demanding justice for Sowjanya, also accompanied him.
Videos of Mahesh show him saying that the state government and the BJP would be responsible “if anything untoward” happened to him. He said that he would not stop fighting against those who had killed Sowjanya.
Several police vehicles escorted Mahesh’s vehicle to the Brahmavara police station.
In anticipation of trouble, the Brahmavara police had blocked road access to the police station from a hundred metres away by placing barricades.
YouTuber gets anticipatory bail
Bengaluru-based YouTuber Sameer MD was booked for allegedly defaming the Dharmasthala temple. On Thursday morning, the Bengaluru police had surrounded his house in the city.
He had applied obtained anticipatory bail on August 19 at a court in Mangaluru. The court, which had reserved orders, granted him anticipatory bail on August 21.
Sameer has made several videos about the rape and murder of Sowjanya, a 17-year-old teenager, in Ujire.
Mahesh’s detention comes amid an intensifying battle between activists demanding justice for Sowjanya and investigation into the alleged secret mass burials in Dharmasthala and supporters of the Dharmasthala temple who have accused the former of defaming the temple and its Dharmadhikari D Veerendra Heggade.
Mahesh has supported activists and locals who have come forward demanding investigation into alleged secret mass burials in Dharmasthala. He has also backed the families of other murder victims such as Padmalatha, a teenager who disappeared in December 1986 and whose body was found 56 days later. He has also supported other locals who have claimed that they too had witnessed bodies being buried allegedly in violation of the law in Dharmasthala.
In the past couple of weeks, protests have been held across the state extending support to Heggade and the temple. The BJP also organised a “Dharmasthala chalo” rally from Bengaluru to Dharmasthala.