HAVERI: For the last few months, Haveri district has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. After two moral policing incidents recently, the district is in the news again as the main accused arrested in the Pakistan zindabad sloganeering case at Vidhana Soudha belongs to a small village in Byadgi taluk.
Mohammad Shafi Nashipudi is a well-known chilli merchant and a close aide of newly elected Congress Rajya Sabha member Syed Naseer Hussain. On February 27, after Hussain’s victory as MP at Vidhana Soudha, “Pakistan Zindabad’’ slogans were heard, after which the police had registered a case against unknown persons in the crowd.
The police said that after the incident, Nashipudi returned to Bydagi the same night. A police team was sent to his residence and he was asked not to leave the house. Two days into the investigation, the police visited his residence and took his voice samples. A day later, the FSL of Bengaluru declared that the three accused were heard shouting Pakistan Zindabad slogans.
The police said two days before Nashipudi’s arrest, many people close to him were interrogated. Some said Nashipudi was an avid follower of the Pakistan elections that happened last month. “He used to raise the issue of Pakistan elections during conversations and used to say that the neighbouring country could progress if a particular leader was elected,” a police officer said.
Byadgi in Haveri has an international chilli market and traders from all over camp here to buy the best quality chilli. The famous Byadgi chilli auctioned here is mostly grown in Ballari. Nashipudi has large chilli storage units and that’s how he grew close to Naseer Hussain, whose relatives are big chilli growers and sellers.
The Byadgi Chilli Merchants’ Association has openly criticised Nashipudi for raising pro-Pakistan slogans. They have demanded that his licence be withdrawn and sales from his outlet banned. On the other hand, hundreds of farmers are waiting for their dues as Nashipudi has not paid them in the last four days.