RSS worker's murder: No family row, politics at work, says Karnataka former HM
Bengaluru: Former home minister R. Ashok came down heavily on City Police Commissioner N.S. Megharikh for suspecting family and financial dispute behind RSS worker and BJP Shivajinagar unit secretary R. Rudresh’s murder on Sunday. “The police commissioner should apologise in public. He is trying to divert the people’s attention from the actual issue,” Mr Ashok told Deccan Chronicle.
“The issue here is coldblooded attacks on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and BJP workers. Why can’t the government accept it and work towards safety and security of our men,” he asked. “Look at the pattern of attacks here. There have been five murders in the state till now and five attempts on the lives of RSS workers in Bengaluru alone. Prashanth Pujary in Mangaluru, Kuttappa in Kodagu, Raju in Mysuru, Srinivas and Rudresh in Bengaluru were all murdered. Two attempts were on the life of Venkatesh in Bhoopasandra, one each on Dileep in Yeshwantpura, Phaneendhra in Vidyaranyapura, Lakshmi Narasimha in Ramachandrapura and Ramesh Vaishnav in Chickpet. All these attacks have similarities – the attackers wore masks, came on bikes and attacked while on the move. Moreover, the victims were all in their uniforms and were either going to or coming back from RSS shakhas. The attack on Rudresh doesn’t look like the handiwork of local gangs or rowdies,” he said.
Though the police had imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 in Shivajinagar and surrounding three police jurisdictions, hundreds of members of the RSS and BJP staged a dharna which the police could not stop. Along with R. Ashoka, Ms Shobha Karandlaje, Mr P.C. Mohan, Mr Arvind Limbavalli, Mr Y. Narayanaswamy, Mr Katte Subramanya and Mr Suresh Kumar protested near Mariayamma Temple where Rudresh’s house is situated.
BJP sources claimed that though the police have taken 12 men into custody, they are tightlipped fearing violence. “They do not want to take chances and are keeping the investigation under wraps,” an RSS worker alleged.
“Sunday’s murder was committed by forces against Hindutva, because Rudresh was not only active with the RSS, but was also involved in organising festivals like Ganesha Utsav in the Cantonment area. We believe that it is the handiwork of fundamentalists,” said Mr K.S. Sridhar, RSS City Secretary.
Family members and relatives of Rudresh, who had gathered at the Bowring Hospital mortuary, refused to give permission for the postmortem, saying they would not do it until the police arrested the culprits. They relented and gave consent around noon, and only then the autopsy was conducted.
Family members suspect the role of one of Rudresh’s friends behind the murder. Rudresh was a civil contractor and had no enemies, his family said. “He had a friend and recently 10 of them, including Rudresh and this friend, had gone on a religious tour of costal Karnataka. Rudresh knew only this friend and none of the others in the group. During the tour, they went in a boat into the sea and Rudresh found actions and mannerisms of his fellow travellers strange and had told his wife Saraswathi about it. We suspect some involvement of this friend in the murder,” the relative alleged.
“We are questioning a lot of people, including witnesses and complainants. We are probing the murder from all angles and are confident that we will uphold the dignity of men in khaki. We have extended the prohibitory orders for the next three more days,” said Police Commissioner N.S. Megharikh. “We will provide police bandobast for the victim’s final rites,” he said.
BJP deadline for cops
Giving the police commissioner time till the evening to nab the killers of RSS worker, Rudresh, who was attacked in broad daylight on Sunday on the busy Commercial street, the BJP on Monday threatened to give its agitation " a different direction," if the two assailants were not apprehended soon. Speaking to reporters here, party spokesperson Suresh Kumar said if police could not protect BJP and RSS workers, it only had to tell them and they would do whatever was necessary to protect themselves. “The attack took place even as Mr Sadananda Master, who lost his legs in violence in Kerala was speaking in the city. Let them not think we are victims. We are warriors and we will go to any extent to protect ourselves,'' he warned, adding, “We have given a deadline to the city police commissioner to arrest the culprits by this evening. If he fails, our protest will take a different direction.'' Claiming that Sunday's attack was the fifth on a RSS/BJP worker in the city over the last two years, Mr Kumar regretted that the police had not made arrests so far for any of the attacks. “There has been a systematic attack on RSS and BJP workers, but no one has been arrested for these cases. We suspect political pressure is responsible for the silence of the police,'' he said.
