Congress contestant seeks police protection

Alleges death threats by Varthur supporters

Congress candidate Changoli Narayanaswamy has said that district in-charge minister Varthur Prakash will be held liable in case anything untoward happened to him.

Addressing a press meet on Friday, Narayanaswamy, said the supporters of Varthur had threatened that some other group will finish him (Narayanaswamy) off after the conclusion of elections. He said he has requested the superintendent of police to provide him protection.

Narayanaswamy had alleged that he was abducted by supporters of Varthur to prevent him from filing nomination papers for the civic polls.

“Varthur, who belongs to Kuruba community, had made it a matter of prestige to ensure victory for his candidate in ward number 5. The ward has more Kuruba population. He wanted to ensure that there is no opposition to his candidate,” Narayanaswamy alleged.

He said that when he went to the City police station to lodge a complaint, the police sub-inspector M Ambareesh called several persons over the phone, asked them to come to the police station and pressurised him not to register any complaint. He charged the police officer of working as an agent of the minister.

Narayanaswamy further said the PSI called C Somashekhar, the main accused, and informed him of registration of the complaint. “He also asked Ambareesh to hide himself,” Narayanaswamy alleged. He said Varthur had given him trouble despite both being relatives.

“I have decided to lodge a complaint to ensure that such incidents do not recur. Electing the supporters of Varthur will only turn Kolar into a Bihar,” he said.

Jayaram, Congress candidate for ward 18, and Beereshwari, candidate for ward 4, too expressed concern over the issue, alleging that the minister had tried to influence them through third parties to back off from the upcoming polls.