Mohammed Nalapad, son of Congress MLA NA Haris, who was arrested on Monday morning in connection with an assault case has been sent to police custody for two days.
The case will be heard again on February 21 by the 8th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrates Court.
His five associates who were arrested on Sunday in connection with the assault case have also been sent to two days police custody.
Meanwhile, a scuffle broke out between Nalapad's supporters and media personnel at the Cubbon Park police station.
"The scuffle was pretty bad. There were some journalists including me inside the police station and then suddenly Haris’s aides were allowed inside the police station. They were shouting slogans ‘We are with you’ addressing Nalapad and started pushing us. At some point, one of Haris’s henchmen punched a photojournalist. They tried to flee and started running towards Cubbon Park. But they were caught by other journalists and brought back to the police station. When all this happened, the police was a mere spectator," a journalist present at the spot, told TNM.
There was speculation that Nalapad, who had evaded arrest on Sunday, surrendered on Monday in hope of securing bail.
The incident occurred on Saturday night when Nalapad had allegedly assaulted and threatened to kill a 24-year-old man over a trivial matter.
Cubbon Park police have registered an FIR against Nalapad under IPC sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 506 (criminal intimidation), 143 and 144 (unlawful assembly), 146 and 147 (rioting), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace).
The victim, Vidvat, is currently recovering at Mallya Hospital in Bengaluru.
According to TV reports, Nalapad had gone into hiding in a farmhouse in Hosur.
The case has been under massive media and public scrutiny more so with the Karnataka Assembly elections around the corner.
BJP and AAP who had hit the streets soon after news broke of the incident, have demanded that Nalapad be booked for attempt to murder too.
However, Nalapad’s lawyer clarified that the police can’t modify an FIR and he was hopeful of securing bail.
According to police, they are considering adding IPC section 307 (attempt to murder) at the time of filing the chargesheet.
After the assault came to light, the Congress was forced to go into the defensive, with the party sacking him from the post of Bengaluru Youth Congress General Secretary and also suspending him from the party for six years.
On Sunday, CM Siddaramaiah tweeted assuring that law will follow its course and the accused won’t be spared.
The Cubbon Park Inspector was suspended for dereliction of duty, and the case was handed over to the Crime Branch for further investigation.
In a statement, MLA Haris apologised for his son’s action but claimed that the opposition was maligning his image.
Read his full statement below:
In view of Saturday night’s unfortunate incident involving my son and Vidhvant. I N.A Harris would like to apologise to Vidhvant, his parents (again) and the citizens of Bangalore.As in the past 9.9years I have served my constituency with utmost humility. The law will be the same for all and my son is no exception.What happened on Saturday night is extremely unfortunate and should not have happened.As already informed on all news channels I myself have surrendered my son Md. Nalapad Haris to the Cubbon Park police authorities. At this point I am taken aback at how the media is only trying to stress on this issue and cripple my 9.9yrs of dedication, devotion, faithful service and result proven work towards the development of my Shantinagar Assembly Constituency. It also is sad to see to how low an extent the opposition party has played their part in the given situation.I again strongly emphasise that the law is the same for all of us and we will adhere to the investigation process and give our 100% cooperation.To all those that have stood by me and are still standing by me during this challenging time I cannot thank you enough.