BENGALURU: Security in Bengaluru and parts of the state where BJP national president Amit Shah is visiting has been tightened.
Shah will address a party rally in Hubballi to create awareness about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which is likely to be attended by more than 1 lakh participants, BJP state general secretary Mahesh Tenginkai told the media.
In Bengaluru, the Union home minister will attend a programme organised by ‘Vedanta Bharati’ at Palace Grounds.
“This is his (Shah’s) first visit to Karnataka after implementation of the CAA. The state has witnessed a large number of protests against the Act since December 18. In Mangaluru, two people were killed in police firing. Shah is viewed as the architect of CAA. His programme schedule will have to be kept under wraps till the last minute because of security concerns,” the officer added.
The City and Tamil Nadu police had recently busted an alleged terror module and arrested six fundamentalists -- Haneef Khan, Imran Khan, Mohammed Zaid and Eijaz Basha from Bengaluru, and Shameem and Toufiq from Udupi.
Shameem was allegedly involved in the murder of Hindu Munnani leader Suresh Kumar in 2014. Their presence in Karnataka has sounded alarm bells across the state.
The heightened vigilance for Shah’s visit is also because of the recent crackdown on the terror module,” the officer added.
“The state machinery is on high vigil and police have taken all precautionary measures to ensure foolproof security for the home minister’s visit,” the officer said.