In police complaint, Munirathna claims 'acid egg' was thrown at him

Bengaluru: BJP MLA Munirathna on Thursday filed a complaint against 100-150 people in connection with the egg attack on him near northern Bengaluru’s Laggere on Wednesday. 

The RR Nagar legislator was walking to his car after attending former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth anniversary celebrations in Lakshmidevi Nagar, Laggere, when an unknown person targeted an egg on his head around 11.30 am on Wednesday.

Nandini Layout police arrested three residents of Laggere—Vishwamurthy, Ashwath alias Ashok, and Vishwa—in connection with the incident. They all obtained bail hours after a Bengaluru court remanded them in judicial custody. 

The suspects claimed that they worked for a different party and confessed to having thrown eggs at the BJP legislator. However, police are yet to ascertain their claims. 

Knew about the attack: Munirathna 

Munirathna called the incident an “egg acid” attack and claimed he experienced a burning sensation on his head, and his head became swollen. He also claimed his hair was plucked out when he rubbed his head. 

According to Munirathna, he knew his murder was being “plotted” and had already brought it to the notice of Governor in October, seeking a gunman. 

He claimed that he also wrote to Hemant Nimbalkar, Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence), seeking a gunman. However, he is yet to get one. 

On December 5, two people posing as advocates waylaid him in the sessions court and asked him to resign as RR Nagar MLA, according to Munirathna. 

“They said I still had time to resign and threatened to send me to jail in a Poso case just like I was sent in a rape case if I didn’t resign,” Munirathna told the police. 

According to the FIR, the advocates “wanted their brother DK Suresh’s happiness”, stressing that he was “upset” after the losing Lok Sabha elections by over a lakh votes. They reportedly told Munirathna that if Suresh has to be happy, then Kusuma (Hanumantharayappa) should become an MLA and achieve similar feats as Laxmi Hebbalkar. 

“They had threatened to kill me if I didn’t resign. They also threatened to gather 100-150 people, attack me with acid eggs, tear my clothes and blacken my face,” Munirathna told the police. 

He added that after the incident, he sent a complaint through his personal assistant to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the President. 

A senior police officer said that they had received a complaint but yet to launch an investigation.