Police cane protesting ABVP activists; 1 injured

Protesters seek action against former VCs of Bijapur, Mysore

Bhardwaj was on his way back to Bangalore after attending Visvesvaraya’s birth anniversary function at Muddenahalli when around 10 ABVP activists sought they be allowed to meet the Governor. They wanted to submit a memorandum to the Governor seeking action against former University of Mysore Vice-Chancellor J Shashidhar Prasad and former Bijapur Women’s University Vice-Chancellor Syeda Aktar for their alleged role in irregularities in appointments in their respective universities.

However, when police tried to prevent them from meeting the Governor, a few activists forced their way forward.

The police then lathi-charged the activists resulting in one person suffering head injuries.
Soon after the Governor’s convoy left the venue, the activists staged a protest against what they termed as the high-handedness of the police.

The police took the activists into custody and later released them. Vijay Kumar, who suffered head injuries, is undergoing treatment at a government hospital in the hamlet.
Wakf Minister Mumtaz Ali Khan, who is also the Chikkaballapur District In-charge Minister convened a meeting with the Deputy Commissioner N Manjula and SP and ordered an inquiry into the incident.

The State unit of ABVP, in a press statement, has condemned the police’s action.
It has also decided to stage a state-wide agitation on Thursday.