JOIN USCorporators slug it out in the open for control over 'fiefdom'
The fight between two corporators of Rajarajeshwari Nagar Assembly segment, the BJP’s Mamatha Vasudev and the Congress party’s G K Venkatesh, has taken a dramatic turn with both the sides accusing each other of running a fiefdom in the constituency.
Mamatha met Bengaluru Police Commissioner N S Megharik on Thursday and complained that she and her family had received “threats” from Venkatesh, a nominated Congress corporator and the “right-hand man” of Rajarajeshwari Nagar Congress MLA Munirathna.
She told Megharik the MLA’s men were “spying” on her family. “Munirathna’s associates have vowed revenge against me. They trouble me whenever I go for inspection of development works in my ward. Some criminals are also hindering me from discharging my duty as corporator,” she alleged.
She continued, “I had an argument with Venkatesh over the JP Park encroachment issue on December 31. He lodged a complaint at the Halasuru Gate police station accusing me of abusing him. I also lodged a complaint at the Yeshwantpur police station against Munirathna and Venkatesh for threatening me, but my complaint has not been investigated.”
Megharik promised to look into the matter.
Police have booked Mamatha’s husband Vasudev for killing a cobra at an old banyan tree inside Mathikere’s Muthyalamma temple, of which he is a trustee. The incident occurred on June 29 when members of the BBMP’s forest cell were cutting some branches of the tree.
Mamatha had written to the forest cell, making a request for cutting the branches. The big cobra was stuck between the branches and a jigsaw and was cut into two.
The Jalahalli police booked him under IPC sections 427 (mischief causing damage) and 428 (mischief by killing or maiming animal) on July 4 based on a complaint by RR Nagar zone forest officer Shivaramu.
The police inspector said that since there was no intention to kill the cobra, the case was not registered under the Indian Forest Act. “We are seeking legal opinion on the future course of action,” he added.
Venkatesh gleefully shared the footage of the incident with television channels when Mamatha was meeting the police commissioner. Local residents alleged that Vasudev knew the tree was home to the cobra that was revered by devotees, but still got it axed as he planned to build a commercial complex there.
Mamatha, however, told Deccan Herald that the 300-year-old tree was hollowed by termites and could get uprooted anytime.
Besides, around 4,000 people are expected to attend a religious procession, and the tree was cut for their safety. The forest cell was unaware that the hollowed trunk was home to a cobra, she said, adding that its death was accidental.