Bengaluru police derails BJP's bike rally

Bengaluru/Mangaluru: The city police on Tuesday took more than 500 BJP leaders and workers into preventive custody for defying the prohibitory orders and continuing with the ‘Mangluru Chalo’ bike rally.

The rally was part of the BJP Yuva Morcha protest against the alleged murder of 18 Hindu activists in the coastal belt of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi. However, the rally was stopped by the police minutes after it was flagged off by former deputy chief minister R. Ashok and all the bikes were confiscated. 

Among the detained BJP leaders were Ashok, MP and BJP Yuva Morcha president Pratap Simha, MP Shobha Karandlaje and MLAs Arvinda Limbavali and Satish Reddy. Prior to their arrest, the protesters staged a dharna on the road near the Freedom Park in protest against the state government for using the police to foil their rally and demanded a warrant from the police to arrest them.

“You have no right to touch us unless you have a warrant. Bring it first and later you can arrest us,” shouted Ashok. The police had to drag Ashoka, Simha and Shobha and detain them. The dharna on Sheshadri Road threw traffic out of gear for hours.

Despite nakabandi around Freedom Park – the venue from where the bike rally was flagged off – banning any bike rally in the city, around 200 BJP activists with bikes managed to reach the spot. The numbers would have been more if the police had not confiscated bikes at Town Hall, Basavanagudi, K.R. Puram, Silk Board and other major areas which were heading to the Freedom Park. 

City Police Commissioner T. Suneel Kumar had clamped Section 35(3) of CrPC on Monday night.

The bike rally was banned to avert any untoward incidents besides traffic jams in the city. The bike rallies were also banned in many parts of the state including, Kolar, Hassan, Hubballi, Chikkamagaluru, Mangaluru, Ballari and Udupi. Around 1,000 police personnel and one RAF company, with 120 members, had been deployed at the Freedom Park. 

Mangaluru BJP: Will have rally
Unmoved by the arrest of party activists who tried to defy the ban on the  bike rally, BJP leaders in Dakshina Kannada district have decided to go ahead with 'Mangaluru Chalo,' rally as per schedule and are sure of a massive turnout for the event.

The BJP Yuva Morcha has organised a massive 'Mangaluru Chalo,' rally at Mangaluru on Thursday. Bike rallies were scheduled to start from various parts of the state on Tuesday but were stopped by the police as the event was not given permission by the police. 

Meanwhile BJP leaders have o questioned the efforts of the government to disrupt a political campaign organised by the party. "The Chalo Mangaluru bike rally will be held in Mangaluru on September 5 without any change. About 10,000 people from our district will participate in the rally," BJP district president Sanjiv Matandur said.

"Workers from other districts too will come in large numbers. We will provide accommodation to all. This will be a historic event and send a message to the entire country," he said.