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Six people have been arrested after violence broke out during an Eid-Milad procession in Bengaluru’s Basavanagudi on Wednesday, August 26. Police have registered three cases in connection with the incident and said all six accused in the two cases involving the alleged assault were produced before court.
Eid-Milad celebrations were held across Karnataka on August 26. In Bengaluru’s Jayanagar sub-division, two processions passed through the area before converging at the YMCA Ground.
One procession began in Tilaknagar and proceeded through Siddapura and Lalbagh before reaching the YMCA Ground via JC Road. The other started in Kumaraswamy Layout and passed through Banashankari and Basavanagudi before reaching Lalbagh West Gate and proceeding towards the YMCA Ground.
According to the police, the procession from Kumaraswamy Layout entered Banashankari police limits at around 3.15 pm and was escorted by police personnel. It later entered Basavanagudi limits and was passing near Garadi Apartment on KR Road when the incident occurred.
Police said Hindutva activist Puneeth Kerehalli and his associates were present at the spot holding saffron flags and raising “Jai Shri Ram” slogans. According to the police account, they approached the Muslim procession and objected to members of the community raising slogans.
Police personnel intervened and tried to prevent the situation from escalating, the press release said. However, police alleged that some members of the Muslim community attacked Muruli, Puneeth’s associate, with a weapon.
The injured person was later taken to Victoria Hospital.
According to the police, Kerehalli initially refused to leave the spot and sat on the road and raised slogans, while the injured person remained on the road. Senior police officers eventually shifted the injured person to Victoria Hospital. Kerehalli and two others were also taken to the hospital along with Basavanagudi police personnel.
Police have registered three cases in connection with the incident.
In the first case, registered at Basavanagudi police station, Kerehalli, Gopi Gowda and Vinod Nayak have been named as accused. Police said the three were arrested and produced before court. The case has been registered under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including provisions relating to promoting enmity, voluntarily causing hurt, unlawful assembly, criminal intimidation and other offences.
A counter-case was registered on the complaint of Puneeth Kumar alias Puneeth Kerehalli. In this case, police identified Akkal Pasha, Abubakar Siddique and Syed Anas as accused. All three were arrested and produced before court, according to the police.
A third case was registered on the complaint of Manjunath HS, a police personnel attached to the Basavanagudi Traffic Police Station. The case, registered under Section 385 of the BNS, relates to alleged obstruction on the road and names Kerehalli and others as accused. The investigation is underway.
Police said they are examining CCTV footage, evidence and statements from people connected with the incident as part of the investigation.
Kerehalli has previously been involved in campaigns against cattle transportation and has uploaded videos of his interventions on social media. His group has also campaigned for the boycott of Muslim-owned shops near temples and opposed the sale of halal meat in Karnataka.
