Four men were arrested by the Karnataka police on Tuesday in relation to the stabbing that took place in the Shivamogga district on Monday. Nadeem (25), Abdul Rehman (25), Tanveer and Jabiullah have been named as the arrested accused.
The arrests came a day after two men, Prem Singh and Praveen Singh were stabbed in Shivamogga, only hours after a row broke out over a Vinayak Damodar Savarkar banner displayed at Ameer Ahmed Circle on Independence Day. On Monday, two factions fought over the placement of flexes commemorating Tipu Sultan, an Islamic dictator from the 18th century, and Savarkar.
Shivamogga, Karnataka | Section 144 of the CrPC imposed after a group of Tipu Sultan followers tried to remove banners of VD Savarkar to install Tipu Sultan’s banners in the Ameer Ahmad circle of the city. pic.twitter.com/rwyHdtnX1k
— ANI (@ANI) August 15, 2022
According to the ADGP of Law and Order Ashok Kumar, all four suspects in the alleged stabbing in Shivamogga have been apprehended. One of the accused, Nadeem is also supposed to have been involved in the communal clashes that took place in 2016 in Shivamogga during a Ganesha procession. “He was the one who hurled slippers,” said Alok Kumar. Another man, Jabiullah, is supposed to have resisted police officers who sought to arrest him at about 3 AM this morning. “During the interrogation, it will be checked whether all accused have links to any organizations or not,” the ADGP further said.
On Monday (August 15), the Karnataka Police issued prohibitory orders in the state’s Shivamogga district after a group of Muslim youths removed a flex banner depicting Veer Savarkar. As part of the Independence Day festivities, Savarkar’s poster was shown, and Muslim youngsters attempted to replace it with one of the Islamic dictator Tipu Sultan.
According to the ADGP law and order, officers are considering confiscating the accused’s property. According to police, the action is being taken since similar offences are being committed throughout the state. According to the senior police official, “authorities won’t stop at just booking the accused under the goonda act, but also ask the district authorities to confiscate the properties of such accused involved in such crimes.”
Alok Kumar further stated that the police will ensure that no unpleasant incidents occur. “We are issuing a warning to anti-social elements that if they indulge in crimes like stabbing, we will take strict action according to the law. We are seeing such incidents repeating. We will take strict action,” he said.
