Pramesh S Jain & Dr B Thomas (Special correspondent)
No one should dare to take law into their hands. State government would not tolerate that.The law would take its course,Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai warned all the organisations which try to foment trouble.
Speaking to media persons before participating in the BJP State Executive meeting he was responding to questions from the media on the Hubballi incidents.
The police are already taking action.Police will not hesitate to take stringent action against those who take law into their hands.
We will act against those who instigated it too. Let us not give political colours to it.We should look at it as a law and order issue.Then only such incidents will stop,Bommai said.
“In Hubballi yesterday some elements took law into their hands.Though the police had arrested the person who had posted a Whatsapp message,some people assembled in front of a police station and incited trouble.
Some policemen too were injured in the incident. Later stone pelting too has happened in some parts of old Hubballi which is an unpardonable crime,”Bommai said.
A large number of people allegedly went on a rampage damaging many police vehicles, a nearby hospital and a Hanuman temple in the old town of Hubballi and injured some police officers on duty over a social media post in the early hours of Sunday, police said.
Prohibitory orders under Section 144 has been clamped in Hubballi city, police added.
Meanwhile 12 police personnel have suffered injuries and 40 persons have been arrested in connection to the Saturday midnight violence on in Hubballi-Dharward Police Commissioner, Labhuram has said.
Speaking to media persons on Sunday after taking stock of the situation in old Hubballi, Labhu Ram said that six cases had been registered with regard to damage to public property and stone-pelting.
Another FIR had already been filed on Saturday in connection with the provocative post that led to the violence and one youth had been arrested, he said.
Along with clamping prohibitory orders in Hubballi city, an adequate number of KSRP platoons and police personnel had been deployed at strategic points.
Responding to a query, he said further investigation was on and steps were being taken to identify and trace all those involved.
We will not spare those who took law into their hands. We have taken all preventive measures to stop repetition of such incident,” Labhu Ram said.
Speaking to reporters in Hosapete,the district headquarters town of the newly carved Vijayanagara district,
Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said some police officers have sustained injuries, including the inspector of Old Town police station.
“A police officer is in a serious condition. Some people involved in the attack have been arrested. It was a pre-planned attack.
The miscreants wanted to create Devara Jeevanahalli and Kadugondahalli like incident in Hubballi,” Jnanendra said.
The Home Minister was referring to the 2020 riot in Bengaluru where about 4,000 Muslims set on fire the residence of Congress MLA from Pulakeshi Nagar assembly constituency in Bengaluru R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy and his sister over a social media post by his relative.
The mob then torched many vehicles and set the DJ Halli and KG Halli police stations afire. In that incident, four people were killed including three in police firing.
Reacting to the Hubballi rampage, senior BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal demanded that the government should act tough against the miscreants in a way that they should never think of repeating the incident.
