Close on the heels of two youngsters being arrested by the police for their alleged “anti-national” statements in the course of protests against the Citizen (Amendment) Act, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai has called a meeting of senior-level police officials in Bengaluru on Sunday to take stock of the situation and discuss preventive steps.
Speaking at Davangere, Mr. Bommai expressed concerns over the “growing anti-national activities” and said there seemed to be an organised network that needs a thorough probe. “There are efforts to disturb peace in the State by roping in youngsters for anti-national activity. The Sunday meeting will discuss measures to curb the trend,” he said.
Accommodation searched
Meanwhile, the SJ Park police, probing the background of Ardra Narayanan who was arrested on Friday for protesting with an allegedly controversial placard, conducted mahazar at the paying guest accommodation at C.V. Raman Nagar. Ardra is learnt to have told the police that there was no organisational backing for her act.
According to senior officers, Ardra said she attended the programme where Amulya Leona who was arrested for raising “Pakistan Zindabad” slogans took part at Freedom Park. After Amulya was arrested for sloganeering, Ardra returned to her paying guest accommodation and made the placard that read “Muslim, Dalit, Kashmiri, Bahujan, Adivasi, Trans Liberation Now” in English and Kannada.
Ardra had come to Town Hall where pro-Hindutva organisations were staging a protest demanding strict action against Amulya. The organisers had swooped down on Ardra and the police had at this point taken the lone protester into custody. Currently, both Amulya and Ardra are housed in the same cell at Parapana Agrahara central prison.
Special team formed
Meanwhile, a special team of police has been formed to probe Amulya’s case. The police have summoned Imran Pasha, Padarayanapura Councillor from JD(S), for questioning.
He was among the anti-CAA protest organisers at Freedom Park where Amulya was arrested.
The police have recorded Mr. Pasha’s statement to ascertain who invited and allowed Amulya to speak. The police are also probing the background of Amulya to ascertain her contacts.
City Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao said the city police were going to make the rule strict for protesters to monitor such activities in future. The police have informed college authorities across the city to inform them if they find any such activities, a senior police officer said.
