On Saturday, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against Srikanth Gowda, a Member of Legislative Council (MLC) associated with the JDS, and his son after they created a ruckus outside the Ambedkar Bhavan in Mandya in Karnataka over the Coronavirus screening of journalists.
As per reports, the Karnataka Government had ordered testing of all on-field journalists in the State, after several media persons were diagnosed with the Chinese virus in Delhi and Mumbai. As such, the Ambedkar Bhavan was sanitised and was used as a testing centre. 27 journalists were screened on Saturday while 15 were tested the previous day.
#UPDATE Karnataka: An FIR has been registered against JD(S) MLC KT Srikante Gowda,his son and three others at Mandya West station for protesting against conducting tests of journalists at Ambedkar Bhavan.
— ANI (@ANI) April 25, 2020
Fearing transmission of the Wuhan Coronavirus, the father-son duo protested against the decision of the government. They were accompanied by JDS supporters and the protest soon turned into a scuffle with the cops. A defiant Gowda was seen arguing with the police and even raised his hand on someone who tried to stop him from entering the premises. He was taken into custody thereafter. An FIR was also registered against 3 other people.
“We have got a written complaint by journalist association about some local residents protesting against the test organised at Ambedkar Bhavan, we will investigate the matter and take action accordingly”, SP (Mandya) K Parashurama was quoted as saying.
JDS leader defies lockdown
On April 16, former Karnataka minister and senior JDS leader HD Revanna had stoked a controversy. He decided to flout lockdown norms by announcing that he would not wear protective masks, despite the advisory by authorities. Minister JC Madhuswamy, who is also the in-charge of Hassan district had called for a meeting in the city to discuss the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
During the meeting, Madhuswamy had issued orders to the district authorities to strictly follow the lockdown guidelines and asked the officials to arrest people who were found violating rules by not wearing masks. A defiant HD Revanna challenged JC Madhuswamy and other authorities by claiming that he will not be using masks in public and also dared them to arrest him for violating the rules. Further, HD Revanna also mocked the officials by stating that he would be happy to get arrested as he would get better food inside the jail.
