Datta Jayanti: Govt defends cops taking photos of BJP workers at night in C'magaluru

It is done to check untoward incidents during Datta Jayanti: Home Minister

 The doorbell rings past  midnight. When the resident of the house opens the door, he finds police personnel at the other end. The police personnel then takes photographs of the resident.

This is not a scene from a suspense movie but an issue raised by the BJP members during Zero Hour in the Legislative Assembly  on Friday  on how the police are harassing people in Chikkamagaluru of late.

Chikkamagaluru MLA C T Ravi (BJP) said that during the past few days, police personnel in the district have been visiting the houses of BJP workers and taking their photographs. "The police time their visit around  2 am  (past midnight).  Why is this being done?" he asked.

Home Minister R Ramalinga Reddy said the exercise is aimed at preventing any untoward incident during Datta Jayanti celebrations at the Dattatreya Peeta in Bababudangiri in Chikkamagaluru district next month.

Usually, thousands of BJP, RSS, Bajarang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad workers congregate at Chikkamagalur during the three-day jayanthi.

"We want to ensure that there is no untoward incident during the jayanthi. We want to take sufficient precautionary measures. You know what happened in Haryana due to inefficiency on the part of the police.. 37 people were killed," Reddy said referring to the Panchkula incident where there were 37 causalities after Dera Sacha Soudh followers went on the rampage following the conviction of their chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.  

Leader of the Opposition Jagadish Shettar objected to the comparison. "Why have the police chosen the unearthly hour to call on the residents? The police want to instill fear among people. This is nothing but an undeclared Emergency," Shettar said.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the government will make a detailed statement on the issue in the House  on Monday.