Mandya, Karnataka: Hindutva protagonist and Sri Ram Sena chief Pramod Mutalik has tried to give a communal colour to the murder case of three priests in Mandya district.
A murder case was reported at the Arakeshwar temple recently at Mandya in connection to which the jurisdictional police have arrested five persons out of which three were nabbed on Monday.
According to the police statement, all arrested belong to the majority community and the murders were committed for money. Police have arrested two people earlier and have recovered 1.25 lakh while nine-persons are suspected to be involved in the murder case.
Despite the fact that five-person arrested are all belonging to the majority community, evidence of the loot and police statement Pramod Muthalik is trying to make it a communal colour.
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Based on the prima facie evidence it looks like it was murder for money as the donation box had been looted. Mutalik says the three murders might not have occurred merely to loot the donation box and said by giving statement that Islamic Jihadists were involved in this murder and demanded a thorough inquiry into the incident. He also fumed over the defunct close circuit cameras in the temple and urged action against the concerned officials of the archeological department while demanding their immediate suspension.
The murdersÂ
Ganesh, Prakash, and Anand who were working as priests and security personnel were in the temple had been murdered in the temple premises while they were asleep at early hours on 11th Sept 2020.
The incident had come to light only when devotees visited the temple in the morning.
The police have arrested five-persons including Manju of Toppanhalli, Vijay of Andhra Pradesh, and Chandru alias Gandhi of Arekal Doddi. Police had to resort to firing as the accused trio allegedly tried to attack and escape when police tried to nab them. They have now been admitted to Maddur taluk hospital and subsequently shifted to district hospital. A day after the incident, Police arrested two people and recovered 1.25 lakh while nine people are suspected to be involved in the murder case.
Superintendent of Police K Parashuram has appreciated the police personnel for the action in nabbing the accused culprits. Speaking to Gauri Lankesh News Parashuram clarified that murders were the handy work of a professional gang that is involved in robbery and looting. Parashuram outrightly ruled out the allegations of the jihadist angle made by Pramod Mutalik.
Further investigations will however put more light on the incident.
Pramod Muthalik and Sir Ram Sene
A Bajrang Dal member in his early life, he formed the Karnataka unit of the Shiv Sena after being expelled from Bajrang Dal. He quit Shiv Sena over the Belgaum border dispute and then formed Sri Ram Sena. He joined Karnataka BJP in 2014 but was forced to quit the party amid widespread criticism and protests from other members
He contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as an Independent Candidate from Bangalore South and Dharwad constituencies in Karnataka but lost both.
Sindagi Flag hoisting: It is not the first time Muthalik has made attempts to incite communal flare-up and had raised a range of bogies against imagined jihadi groups in the past. The pro-Hindu organization had raised hue and cry over the Sindhagi flag hoisting incident in which the perpetrators later turned out to be a member of Sri Ram Sena. Â Pramod Mutalik later disowned the accused Parashuram Waghmore and said the latter belonged to RSS. He was later acquitted in the flag hoisting case. Parashuram Waghmore is also one of the main accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder case.
Hubli court blast: Nagaraj Jambagi, mastermind of the Hubli court blast was a personal assistant to Pramod Muthalik. The former who faced charges of planting a bomb under the Venkatapur Bridge near Dharwad was murdered in a well-planned conspiracy by his own associates in jail premises. Muthalik associates have such a notorious history.
Mangalore Pub Incident: Pramod Muthalik and his organization came to national limelight when in 2009, the Ram Sena men led an attack on a Mangalore pub, where women were beaten and manhandled. Muthalik defended the attack saying that girls going to pub was against Indian culture.
In 2018, he along with 24 others were acquitted by the court from the charges related to the 2009 Mangalore pub attack.
