Mangaluru (IANS): Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police Vikram Amate on Wednesday said an inquiry will be conducted into the allegations of police atrocity against nine persons accused of displaying a banner at Puttur demeaning BJP leaders Nalin Kumar Kateel and D.V. Sadananda Gowda.

In a statement, Dr. Amate said police learnt through social media posts that the accused persons were allegedly beaten up by the Puttur Town police.

The Additional Superintendent of Police will conduct the inquiry to ascertain the veracity of the allegations and to take further action.

The police have however not received any formal complaint of atrocity so far, he added.

A banner was found displayed near the KSRTC bus stand in Puttur on Monday, bearing the name of ‘aggrieved Hindu Karyakartas.’

The banner, having the pictures of Kateel and Gowda, expressed ‘Shraddhanjali’ to the two for the defeat of the BJP in the Assembly elections. Footwear were also placed atop the banner.

Puttur Municipal Commissioner Madhu S Manohar filed a police plaint under the Karnataka Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, seeking action against unknown persons the same day and got the banner removed.

The Puttur Town police arrested Vishwanath and Madhava, both residents of Narimogaru village on Monday and arrested Abhi alias Avinash, Shivaram, Chaitresh, Eshwar, Nishanth, Dikshith, and Guruprasad on Tuesday.

A video showing some people walking out of a police station with difficulty and pictures of bruises on the body of a few persons went viral on social media on Wednesday, alleging that the Puttur police beat up the arrested persons severely.

The media posts also alleged that top BJP leaders were behind the police atrocity.

However no individual or organisation has made any public statement/ police complaint so far in this regard.