Three arrested by Bengaluru Police for alleged pro-Pak slogans during RS polls
The arrested are Iltaz (New Delhi), Munnavar (R. T. Nagar, Bengaluru) and Mohammed Shafi (Byadgi, Haveri district).
The Bengaluru Police on Monday said that three persons have been arrested following “Pakistan Zindabad’’ slogans raised during the victory celebrations of newly elected Rajya Sabha member Syed Naseer Hussain in Vidhana Soudha on February 27.
“Based on Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report, circumstantial evidence, witness statements and available proof, three persons have been arrested,’’ a press statement from the Bengaluru City Police said.
The arrested are Iltaz (New Delhi), Munnavar (R. T. Nagar, Bengaluru) and Mohammed Shafi (Byadgi, Haveri district).
The government had asked the FSL to investigate the video clippings following allegations that pro-Pakistan slogans were allegedly raised by the supporters of Hussain.
READ | Karnataka BJP cites private lab report, says 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans raised
Home minister G Parameshwara, who earlier in the day had maintained that the FSL was yet to submit the report, said he was unaware of the arrests. “I was preoccupied with meetings throughout the day and came to know about the arrests only from the media. We have given freedom to the police to investigate, I will come back to you after getting the details,” he added.
Meanwhile, a verbal duel erupted between the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the latter released the investigation report of a private FSL in Bengaluru, which had been commissioned by the BJP to verify the video pertaining to the alleged “Pakistan Zindabad’’ slogans.
The seven-page analysis report was prepared by Clue4 Evidence Forensic Investigations Pvt Ltd and signed by the lab’s director and audio forensic examiner Phaneendar B. N. The investigation was done on the request of Samvada Foundation, a media platform which promotes the RSS ideology and is headed by Vrushanka Bhat, editor-in-chief of Samvada and managing trustee of the Suchitra Film Society.
READ | Karnataka police detain dry chilli trader from Haveri for ‘Pak Zindabad’ slogans
In the report submitted to Samvada on March 2, Phaneendar, who analysed the 30 seconds video, said: “To the limited extent of the question in this case, being whether if it was ‘Nasir Saab Zindabad’ or ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, the above analysis indicates that it is highly probable to be ‘Pakistan Zindabad’.”
Reacting to the private lab’s report earlier in the day, Parameshwara said the government does not take private reports into consideration. “If the report says that such a slogan was shouted then we will take action immediately. There is no question of hiding it as alleged by the BJP,” he said.
The home minister wanted to know whether the private person, who prepared the report had his own laboratory and done analysis. “We will find out with whose permission he has done it, who gave him ‘No Objection Certificate’ and is he authorised to make such reports public?’’ he added.
Opposition leader in the legislative Assembly R Ashoka alleged that the government had received the official FSL report and was trying to keep it under wraps to shield some persons. A memorandum was submitted by BJP MLAs L A Ravi Subramanya, C K Ramamurthy and Uday B Garudachar to DG&IGP Alok Mohan on Monday seeking his intervention in getting the official FSL report in public domain.
In a counter move, Karnataka Congress spokesperson A N Nataraj Gowda filed a complaint before CEN police station, West Zone, Basaveshwaranagar, Bengaluru, that BJP state chief B N Vijayendra and others had posted a FSL report on social media which was `”baseless and fabricated.’’
Phaneendar said the Samvada Foundation had submitted one video, which was the primary source of that day’s controversy obtained by the media outlets. “We were unable to hear the complete words whether it was `Ki’ or `Taan’ of Pakistan and for that reason our report is an inference that the words would have probably been used,” Phaneendar said.
He added that the video clip provided to him was not doctored or tampered with.