Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge(L), accused Dhanappa
Credit: PTI, special arrangement
Bengaluru: In a joint operation, police teams from Bengaluru and Kalaburagi have arrested a man from Maharashtra accused of issuing threats to Congress minister Priyank Kharge.
The suspect is Dhanappa Narone, 40.
Kalaburagi sub-urban police officials, who accompanied Bengaluru cops, said that Narone was a marketing agent engaged in the sales of biscuits and chocolates in Solapur.
"He was secured in Latur, Maharashtra," a senior Bengaluru police officer told DH. "He is originally from Solapur and had fled to Latur. Technical leads helped narrow down his location."
Police investigators tracked his location using cellphone tower dumps and other methods before securing him.
According to police, the team that executed the arrest will reach Bengaluru late Thursday night, and Narone will likely be produced before a local court on Friday.
Hakay Akshay Machhindra, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) in Bengaluru, supervised the operation.
On October 15, Kharge shared a video on X where a man on the phone, now identified as Narone, was hurling abuses at him. "I am with the RSS," Narone was heard saying in the video.
This happened after Kharge had written to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, seeking a ban on activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in government schools, colleges and public institutions.
"Please see the kind of words used in RSS shakhas. I have received several such calls since the morning,” Kharge said in the video.
The Sadashivanagar police in Bengaluru subsequently registered an FIR and launched a search operation.
(With inputs from Vittal Shastri in Kalaburagi)