A Chikkamagaluru court has issued summons to 14 people allegedly involved in damaging the tombs at Sri Guru Dattatreya Bababudan Swamy Dargah atop Bababudangiri during Datta Jayanti celebrations in 2017.
The court issued the summons to Tudakuru Manjunath, who was the district convener of Bajrang Dal then, and others, as the police, who investigated the case, filed the charge sheet recently. Chikkamagaluru Rural Police had registered the suo motu case following the incident.
Advocate Sudhakar, who represented the pro-Hindu activists in earlier cases, told the media on Thursday, January 4, that the police filed the charge sheet in the last week of December 2023. “The previous BJP government had withdrawn many cases filed against pro-Hindu activists. However, this case was not withdrawn as the police had not filed the charge sheet yet. Now they have filed the charge sheet, necessitating the summons to the accused. So far, the police have not given reasons for the delay in submitting the charge sheet,” he said.
The accused include those who joined Congress in recent years. They too have received summons to appear before the court for a hearing on January 8.
Meanwhile, former Minister and BJP leader C.T. Ravi alleged that the Congress government was reopening old cases related to pro-Hindutva activists for political reasons. “Siddaramaiah-led government is following the anti-Hindu agenda,” he remarked. However, Chikkamagaluru police issued a press release stating that they were not reopening any old cases related to Datta Jayanthi.
Protest
Earlier in the day, Mr. Ravi staged a dharna holding a placard stating, “I am also a Karsevak, arrest me too” in front of the police station. He alleged that the Congress government was reopening old cases to target Hindu activists. The police took him into preventive custody as many of his supporters joined the protest with similar placards. He was released later.
