Eggs thrown at S R Hiremath near Bidadi

Two anti-corruption activists were assaulted by a mob at Kethaganahalli village near Bidadi on Monday when they sought to look into the lands allegedly grabbed by former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy. 

Ravi Krishna Reddy of the Lancha Mukta Karnataka and S R Hiremath of the Samaj Parivartana Samudaya (SPS), along with several other activists, were gone to the village to meet a few victims of land grab. Around 11.15 am, as they were talking to a family, a mob attacked Prabhugouda Patil, one of the activists. Reddy and others were also manhandled when they tried to intervene. The mob later threw eggs at Hiremath and gave him death threats. 

Hiremath later filed a police complaint, which resulted in an FIR against one Hanumegowda and others. Police said they were making efforts to apprehend the suspects. 

Hiremath has filed a PIL petition in the high court, objecting to government inaction in implementing a Lokayukta report about allegations that Kumaraswamy and former minister D C Thammanna had grabbed 200 acres of land in the Ramanagar district. 

"The high court recently ordered the Revenue Department to implement the report. We had gone to the village to take stock of the situation," Hiremath said. 

Deepak C N, another activist who accompanied Hiremath, alleged that some members of their team were badly assaulted. "They tried to stop us by removing air from the tyres of our vehicle while the police just watched," he said. The mob also damaged the SUV in which Hiremat's team visited the village. 

The activists further alleged that policemen posted at the spot "did nothing" when the mob snatched the phone of a cop in civvies filming the incident. The activists have submitted a video of the assault to Bidadi police for further action.