BENGALURU: A fourth First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against 30 Congress leaders, including party state unit chief DK Shivakumar and Bengaluru Rural MP DK Suresh, for taking part in the Mekedatu padayatra despite Covid-19 restrictions in the state. This time the FIR has been registered at Ramanagara rural police station.
The first FIR in the case was registered on January 9, the first day of the padayatra, in which 30 people were named for flouting Covid-19 norms. On Tuesday, 40 more people were named in the second FIR. On Wednesday, the third FIR was filed.
Meanwhile, vehicles carrying Congress workers were stopped at several check posts along Bengaluru-Mysuru highway to prevent them from participating in the padayatra. The padayatra was scheduled to reach Ramanagara town from Ijoor town. A huge stage that was set up to commence the fifth day of the padayatra was dismantled early on Thursday.
Meanwhile, traffic was affected till noon as the police had barricaded the roads to check vehicles. Police personnel were deployed in large numbers to monitor the situation and senior police officers also monitored the meetings held by Congressmen in Kanakapura and Ramanagara. The situation, however, returned to normalcy after Congress leaders called off the padayatra.