Udupi: The district BJP members staged a huge rally condemning the arrest of VHP and Bajrang Dal activists in connection with the suspicious death of cattle trader Husseinabba on May 29.

Addressing the gathering on the DC office premises in Manipal on Wednesday, Parliamentarian Shobha Karandlaje alleged that police are under the pressure from the Congress and the JD(S) coalition government. The chief minister has instructed the police to take action supporting cattle traffickers. The government has to act sincerely, she demanded.

“Although the rain has destroyed the district and caused maximum loss, the state government has not taken any initiative to provide relief. It is only interested in the Husseinabba case and framing Sangh Pariwar activists under false charges. Husseinabba died of cardiac arrest. The government did not even permit the police to come to a conclusion based on post mortem report. It has pressurised the police to arrest the Sangh Pariwar activists before the truth is out,” she alleged.

Vehicle damage

She claimed that police are checking the damages to the vehicle carrying the cattle. “There is no third person involved in the case. It is the deceased and his partners who damaged the vehicle while taking a reverse to escape the scene. The anti-Hindu policy pursued by the state government is devastating,” she stated.

“Former chief minister Siddaramaiah supported the minorities for illegal activities. During his tenure, only victims from minority communities were offered compensation for deaths occurred while being engaged in cattle trafficking. It was totally against Hindu activists, who sacrificed their lives to save the cattle treasure. They are in fact treated as offenders,” she said, referring to the case of Kabir in 2014.

“The VHP and the Bajrang Dal activists who are arrested are innocent. The activists have decided not to indulge in illegal activities,” Karandlaje insisted.

Non-implementation

Coming down heavily on the former governor H R Bhardwaj, the MP alleged that he indirectly supported the non-implementation of ban on cow slaughter act. Karandlaje said police should save the cattle protecters and not slaughters.

“Brahmavar PSI Rafeeq and some more police personnel should be transferred as they only target Bajrang Dal activists. The Sangh Pariwar activists inform the police but never take the law into their hands,” she asserted and demanded that no Sangh Pariwar activists from Bajrang Dal and VHP be arrested unless and until the post mortem report is handed over to the police.

Udupi MLA Raghupathy Bhat demanded that the case to be handed over to the CBI for an impartial inquiry. Husseinabba has died when he was in police custody. The arrested activists should be released if the post mortem report says that Husseinabba died of cardiac arrest.

The huge protest rally in town was held amidst tight police security.