Mandya, 9 Sep

The lights going off during the stone pelting at the Ganesha idol immersion procession in Maddur on 7 September raises doubts about whether the incident was pre-planned, IGP (Southern Range) MB Boralingaiah said on Tuesday.

He said the situation in Maddur is currently peaceful, despite the BJP calling for a bandh. Around 800 personnel have been deployed as markets remained shut. So far, 22 people have been arrested and sent to judicial custody.

"We have verified CCTV. The preliminary information available is that the lights were turned off when the incident happened. A stone was thrown, it is seen in the CCTV images. But was there a conspiracy, how it happened, and what is the root cause? These are being investigated," Boralingaiah said.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje slammed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his Deputy DK Shivakumar, accusing the Congress government of insulting Hindus and indulging in appeasement politics. “What were the police doing?” she added.

However, Home Minister G Parameshwara denied the charges, asking if the police were involved in the stone pelting. He said that the guilty will not be spared and appealed to all communities to maintain peace.

State BJP President BY Vijayendra said, “Due to CM Siddaramaiah's anti-Hindu policy, atrocities are being committed against the majority in the State. If this continues, it will be difficult to even walk on the streets.”

Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah said, “It has come to our notice that BJP members have lodged a complaint with the Union Home Minister regarding the law and order situation in the State. Where were the BJP members when many farmers lost their lives during the farmers' agitation against the Centre? Why did BJP leaders not raise their voice on Manipur?”