CM asks police to keep watch on communal elements

Chief minister Siddaramaiah has instructed the police to crack down on anti-social elements who stoke communal passions and disturb peace in Karnataka.

At a meeting with senior police officers on Thursday, he accused the BJP of "trying to disturb peace in Bengaluru and other parts of the state by propagating the Hindutva ideology and spreading communal hatred ahead of next year's elections".

He asked the police to be especially vigilant during the upcoming Tipu Jayanthi and the BJP's Parivathana Yatra.

Police have permitted the BJP to take out bike rallies for 75 days but made it clear that there should be no disturbance to peace and hindrance to members of the public.

"If anything untoward happens, the party (BJP) will be held responsible," Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy said. "Earlier, we did not permit the (BJP's) bike rally (in Mangaluru) as the situation there was tense at that time."

The meeting was attended by all senior police officers, the immediate subordinates of the newly appointed DG&IGP Neelamani Raju, the adviser to home minister Kempaiah and Bengaluru Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar.