MP Pratap Simha leads protest, Mysuru Medical College turns into a fortress

MYSURU: Mysuru Medical College and Research Institute, where the body of BJP worker Raju was kept, was converted into a fortress with multiple security cordons formed by the local police Sunday evening as thousands of BJP workers and pro Hindu activists assembled outside to protest against his murder.

The protest was led by Member of Parlaiment Pratap Simha, former ministers S A Ramdas and C T Ravi, G Madhusudan, MLC, Mysuru district BJP unit president Mr Maruthi Rao Pawar and others.

Through vituperative attacks, they alleged that a mosque under construction on a disputed site in Kyathamaranahalli, which Raju opposed, had the support of NR Assembly constituency legislator Tanveer Sait, and that former Mayor Ayub Khan played role in the attack on Sunday.

They blamed the state cabinet for the brutal attack, saying the state cabinet in June 2015 had decided to withdraw forty cases against activists of Karnataka Forum for Dignity and Popular Front India who were allegedly involved in 2009 communal riots related to the disputed site.

The autopsy was completed at 11am, but these BJP leaders insisted that the body should remain in the hospital till the assailants were arrested. They urged district in-charge minister V Srinivas Prasad, who was in New Delhi, to rush to the spot and release '25 lakh as ex-gratia to the family of Raju.

The city police wanted the body to be taken to the crematorium, and did not permit them to take the body to their home, but BJP leaders insisted that the body should be taken home first before cremation.

Later, deputy commissioner Shikha along with police commissioner B Dayanand, and SP Mr Abhinav Khare held a meeting with few BJP leaders.

When the deputy commissioner said the government would offer an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakhs and permit to take the body home only for a short while, they agreed to take the body at 4.30pm. Only later BJP leaders led the procession and took the body to his home and later the crematorium.

Meanwhile, few miscreants reportedly assaulted photo journalists Nagesh Panathale, Mohan and some cameramen of some television channels including Puneeth and Ranjith near MMC and RI while they were covering the protests by BJP leaders.

They later had to rush inside the MMC and RI premises near the mortuary where the body of Raju was kept, requesting police offers to allow them to take refuge.