One Hindutva activist attacked in Shivamogga by five Jihadis, escaped from the attempt of murder.

Karnataka: Bajrang Dal worker assaulted in Shivamogga by suspected Jihadi people; police arrest two, launch manhunt for other accused

B Upendran | HENB | Shivamogga | July 12, 2022:: A Hindutva activist was assaulted by a group of people in Shivamogga on Monday night. Kantaraju, a Bajrang Dal activist, who suffered injuries in the incident, has been admitted to McGann Hospital in the city.

Kantaraju was assaulted around 10.30 p.m. near his house at Rajeev Gandhi Extension. The accused allegedly hit him with lethal weapons. Somehow, Kantaraju managed to escape by snatching a weapon from one of the accused. Kantaraju said that Shoheb, Juned and other three Jihadi mentality guys jointly targeted him to murder for his membership in the right wing Hindu outfits.

BJP leaders visited the hospital and enquired about his health on Tuesday. He suffered injuries on his hand and back. BJP district president T.D. Megharaj was among those who met him in the hospital. Incidentally, Kantaraju was also connected with BJP as a booth level worker in the last election period.

Shivamogga SP B.M. Laxmi Prasad told press persons on Tuesday that a group of three to five people assaulted Kantaraju. Two people have been arrested by the police so far. It is said that Kantaraju was targeted for his involvement with Hindutva organisations.

The SP said patrolling in the city had been intensified to avoid such crimes in the coming days.

Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra has said that police are looking into the matter very seriously.

The incident has come a week after two unidentified persons allegedly assaulted a 30-year-old Bajrang Dal functionary at Mumbra in Thane city of Maharashtra.

Sarvesh Tiwari was assaulted with a log of wood in Kadar Palace area of Mumbra, a Muslim-dominated area, on July 1, he said.

A Thane Police officer confirmed, “We have launched a manhunt to nab the accused and all the angles are being probed. We have received some leads in the case and things will become clearer once the accused are arrested.”

Later, a delegation led by BJP MLA from Thane, Sanjay Kelkar, met the district collector on Tuesday and demanded that the Popular Front of India (PFI), an Islamic organisation, be banned in the country. The legislator also sought that those involved in the attack on Tiwari be arrested quickly.

Another Hindu activist, named Harsh Nagaraju, related to Bajrang Dal was also hacked to death by Muslim perpetrators in Shivamogga. Harsha was killed on February 20, 2022, by a group of six people triggering many instances of violence in Shivamogga and adjacent places. The murder case is being probed by National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the accused are undergoing imprisonment in the Central Prison of Parappana Agrahara in Bengaluru.

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__Inputs from Agencies.