The police sounded an alert and stepped up vigil after two parked cars were set on fire in separate incidents at Shanthinagar bus stand near the Enforcement Directorate office and another in Seshadripuram on Thursday by Youth Congress activists, who were protesting against the ED continuing to question party president Sonia Gandhi in the National Herald case.
The Wilson Garden police arrested five Congress workers for setting fire to a car during a protest at Shanthi Nagar bus stand. However, no arrests have been made in the second case yet. The police have towed away the car after dousing the fire.
State’s Youth Congress president Mohammed Nalapad later said that the activists were expressing their anger and frustration and had set fire to their own cars. Mr. Nalapad said that he was not justifying the acts, but the incidents showed how frustrated the party workers were about the developments.
In both the cases, strict action would be taken on charges of rioting, creating public nuisance and protesting without permission, the police said.
At Freedom Park
Meanwhile, all senior Congress leaders of the party participated in the protest at Freedom Park. Speaking at the event, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah said that the BJP was misleading people by saying that the Congress protests indicated lack of courage to face the law. “The protests are not a show of fear or disrespect for law of the land. It is a protest against all government agencies being misused by the BJP government in an effort to silence all Opposition,” he said. KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar said that he was himself a victim of such “harassment” by enforcement agencies.
The Upparpet police also detained senior Congress leaders while they were trying to break the barriers at Freedom Park to march towards Raj Bhavan. They were released later.
