BENGALURU: Maintaining that law and order situation was under control in communal riots hit Uttara Kannada district, Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy said “five to six BJP leaders” were responsible for the same.
Addressing a press meet, he said that BJP MPs Shobha Karandlaje and Ananthkumar Hegde have been misleading people by making false statements about the death of Paresh Mesta. To a question, Reddy said that they were forced to reveal the preliminary forensic report of the deceased in order to allay rumours related to the incident. “The cause of death will be clear once the post-mortem report is out. Final post-mortem report will come out in a week,” he said.
Stating that people will not be allowed to take law into their own hands, he dismissed reports of police failure resulting in escalation of riots in the coastal district. “The whole situation in Sirsi is due to incidents of stone pelting reported during the day. Though we gave permission for procession despite the fact that section 144 was imposed, some protestors decided to target some shops and pelted stones. This prompted police to act against them,” he said.
He said that the situation was under control and persons responsible will be brought to book soon.
Earlier, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president Dinesh Gundu Rao said that BJP was resorting to political violence for electoral benefits.