Sri Rama Sene man announces Rs 10 lakh bounty for killing student activist Amulya Leona
In a shocking statement, a Sri Rama Sene member on Friday offered Rs 10 lakh as reward to anyone who kills student protester Amulya Leona. In a video that has emerged from Ballari, the man who introduces himself as a Sri Rama Sene leader says this kind of 'anti-national' activity is spreading like cancer.
"Amulya Leona, a student, has said Pakistan Zindabad. I request the state government, that she should not be released on bail. If she is released, we will do an encounter on her (kill her), or we will give Rs 10 lakh reward to those who do it," Sanjeev Maradi told mediapersons in Ballari. Though he says he is from Sri Rama Sene, Maradi and a man next to him can be seen wearing a sash with BJP written on it. However, the Ballari BJP president says that Sanjeev Maradi is not a BJP worker.
The announcement was met with hoots from the people surrounding Sanjeev Maradi as he made the statement to the media.
Amulya Leona, a 19-year-old journalism student from a Bengaluru college, was arrested on charges of sedition on Thursday for saying 'Pakistan Zindabad' in a public meeting in the presence of All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaddudin Owaisi. She then went on to chant 'Hindustan Zindabad' and also added, 'the difference between Pakistan Zindabad and Hindustan Zindabad is....", but was dragged off the stage before she could complete the sentence.
A Sri Rama Sene member, Siddalinga Swamy, had offered Rs 3 lakh as bounty for the tongues of three Kashmiri students in Hubballi who were arrested on charges of sedition. The statement was made in Gadag, during a program commemorating Shivaji Jayanti. Siddalinga had said, “We will pay Rs 1 lakh for each tongue which is cut.”
In another incident, a student were made to urinate on a poster of Amulya Leona as part of right-wing protests against the student in Yadgir. This was also met with shouts of approval. The men surrounding the boy wore saffron sashes and shouted “Jai Shree Ram, Bharat Mata Ki Jai,” and shouted enthusiastically.