RSS and BJP members in Bengaluru are an enraged lot after the murder of an RSS member in the city. R Rudresh, an RSS activist for the last eight years was hacked to death in public view on Sunday morning at the busy Shivajinagar area in Bengaluru. Two men wearing helmets came on a bike and attacked Rudresh who was on his way back from an RSS meet in the city.
As police imposed section 144 in four station limits in Bengaluru fearing violence and counter attacks, RSS called Rudresh’s murder part of a larger plan, not an isolated murder due to personal enmity.
But RSS and BJP leaders who gathered to protest near the Shivajinagar bus stand on Monday morning refrained from accusing any institution or political outfit from carrying out the attack.
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Protestors demanded the Karnataka government should take immediate action to nab the killers and fast-track the investigation process.
Apart from local corporators, BJP leaders Shobha Karnadlaje, Suresh Kumar, R Ashok, PC Mohan, Katta Subramanya Naidu and Arvind Limbavali were at the protest.
RSS spokesperson Radhakrishna said that over the last two years there have been more than four attacks on right-wing workers in Bengaluru alone.
“In 2014, an RSS worker Phanindra was attacked in Vidyaranyapura in the city. There has been no progress in the investigation. Our supporters are worried. They are asking us what is happening with the case. The area where Rudresh was murdered is well equipped with CCTV cameras and there were enough witnesses. We urge the government and the police to nab the murderers as soon as possible,” he said.
Former BJP legislator Nirmal Kumar Surana said, “In less than one year there have been many such attacks on right-wing activists. BJP worker K Raju in Mysuru, VHP worker Kuttappa in Kodagu and Prashant Pujari in Dakshina Kannada were murdered in broad daylight and the Congress government in the state has done nothing in these cases.”
Comparing Rudresh’s murder to the recent attacks on RSS workers in Kerala, BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje said that Karnataka was starting to show a similar trend.
“Karnataka must not turn into another Kerala. Every week our workers are receiving threats and the government is deliberately overlooking it, “she told TNM.
Agreeing with Karandlaje’s views, former law minister Suresh Kumar said, “If the Congress government cannot assure us protection, our request to them is to give us licensed guns so we can protect ourselves from such attacks.”
Rudresh’s relative told The News Minute that Rudresh was a true RSS worker at heart and kept away from trouble.
“He worked as a contractor. His wife does not go to work and is a home maker. It is going to be very difficult for her to manage the two children," he said.
Read our ground report from Pinarayi on the political murder