Bengaluru: The recent killings of BJP and RSS workers in Madikeri, Kodagu district, Moodabidri, Dakshina Kannada district and in Mysuru City are being seen as evidence of a “terror corridor” flourishing in the state by the saffron parties, which are now demanding action to put a stop to its activities.
The parties claim the corridor runs through Mysuru, Kodagu, Bhatkal and Mangaluru and has deep roots in neighbouring Kerala. Senior police officers, however, dismiss the theory saying the killing of Hindu activists in Karnataka cannot be compared to similar incidents in Kerala as the political situations in both states are quite different.
Officers both retired and serving say the murders of saffron party workers, Kuttappa in Kodagu district, Prashanth Poojari in Dakshina Kannada and Raju in Mysuru district were all for different reasons and had nothing do with a so-called anti-national corridor.
They believe flawed investigation into all three deaths has led to the right wing activists’ claim that they are being targeted to check the saffron surge.
"We too have an intelligence network at the local level to keep an eye on such activities. But we haven't come across anything like a terror corridor in the state. We are ready to investigate if the BJP has any evidence of it," said a serving officer, noting that the magisterial inquiry report into Kuttappa's death blamed miscreants from a neighbouring state for creating trouble during the Tipu Jayanthi celebrations.
But BJP leaders insist that the arrest of a few terror suspects is evidence enough of such a corridor in the state . Mysuru-Kodagu Lok Sabha member, Pratap Simha strongly feels the “corridor” is working to create communal disharmony in Karnataka.
"Isn’t the arrest of terror suspects in Bhatkal, Chikmagalur, Mysuru and other places not indicative of the underground activities of anti-national forces? The Intelligence Bureau has collected a lot of information on such forces taking refuge in smaller towns. While the crime is committed by trained men, the logistics are looked after by local people. There are a lot of similarities in the killing of Kuttappa, Pujari and Raju which indicates that there is a deep rooted network at work," he argues.
But a senior Congress leader claims the saffron party, which has flexed its muscles in Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada districts, is making up this theory to spread its influence further. “ It is now looking to regain its lost base in Mysuru and Uttara Kannada and so any stray incident is being given political colour. But Karnataka will never go the way of West Bengal or Kerala way in finishing off political opponents," he maintains.
