Sloganeering case: Tumakuru court to hear student's bail plea today

The Fourth Additional JMFC court here will take up for hearing the bail application of Praveen Kumar Singh, the student of Sri Siddhartha Institute of Technology (SSIT) who was arrested on the charge of raising pro-Pakistan slogans in the hostel on the midnight of August 14.

Amitkumar Singh, the younger brother of the suspect, had filed bail application in the local court four days ago. Assistant Public Prosecutor Satishgowda had sought time for filing objections, saying that the student was from a different state. Interestingly, neither the college management nor the police has evidence that the student had indeed raised pro-Pakistan slogans in the hostel. The case has been registered based on the statements of the security personnel of the college/hostel.

Sources in the college say that there are rumours on the campus that the police arrested Singh in a hurry as the incident occurred close on the heels of the Amnesty International event in Bengaluru.

Amit Kumar Singh told DH, “My brother is innocent. There is no way he can be unpatriotic. Ours is a family of patriots. My father and uncles are all in the military. We are Hindus and will not raise anti-India slogans. It must have been a bad moment and my brother’s statements have been misconstrued by the security staff. The language barrier could also have caused the miscommunication.”