Cong candidate alleges kidnap by Varthur faction

Files FIR, says was threatened against submitting nomination

 A former member of the City Municipal Council has accused C Somashekhar and five others of the Varthur faction of having kidnapped him to keep him from filing his nomination for the upcoming polls.

Changoli Narayanaswamy, a Congress candidate, has filed an FIR at the city police station on Monday against Somashekhar, who is also an former CMC member.Somashekhar has filed his nomination from ward 5 of the CMC and has been named as the prime accused in Narayanaswamy’s complaint. Ashwin, Darshan, Prajwal and two others who are yet to be named, and belong to the same faction, are next in line of accusation.

Complaint

In his complaint with the police, Narayanaswamy has said that he had been kidnapped around 11.30 am on Saturday the last day for filing nominations, when he had gone home to get the necessary documents.

He has said that he was on his way home at Kote Layout sub-jail road, when C Somashekhar, Ashwin, Darshan, Prajwal and the two others intercepted, gagged and bound him and thrust him into a vehicle before taking him away into the Kooteri forest area near Hudukula. They also assaulted and threatened him against submitting a nomination for ward 5.

Police delay

The police are said to have added to Narayanaswamy’s woes by delaying the registration of his FIR Sunday morning. Sources say there had also been political pressure on Narayanaswamy not to file a complaint.

Narayanaswamy, however, contacted Member of Legislative Council Nisar Ahmed and other leaders of the party, who brought the matter to the notice of senior officials. The police staff at the station apparently agreed to register an FIR only then.

‘Deal with issue’

Following the Narayanaswamy incident, former minister and JD(S) leader K Srinivas Gowda has urged the election officers to ensure there is indeed an environment of free and fair elections for the urban local bodies.

Campaigning for Ashok Kumar, the JD(S) candidate for ward 5, Srinivas Gowda said members of the Varthur faction had similarly threatened candidates of the JD(S) too.

 “Ashok Kumar had been given a life threat by members of the faction, urging him to withdraw his nomination. The election officers should look into the matter to prevent further incidents on similar lines,” pressed the former minister.

He added that a former member of the CMC had misbehaved with R Shalini, former commissioner of the CMC. “The matter had even reached the police. The member had shown misdemeanour with  Union Minister K H Muniyappa too,” complained Srinivas Gowda.

He also called upon the voters to ‘teach a lesson’ to District In-charge Minister Varthur Prakash, who is at the head of the band.