Ballari clash: Case filed against MLA Janardhana Reddy, 10 others

Supporters of the local Congress MLA and the BJP leader clashed in the city over putting up of banners on Thursday; police say security tightened in Ballari and situation remains peaceful

A case has been registered against 11 people, including BJP MLA G Janardhana Reddy, in connection with a clash that took place near the legislator's house in Ballari city on Thursday evening over putting up of banners.

The FIR was registered in the early hours of Friday based on a complaint by Chanal Shekhar, a close aide of Ballari City MLA N Bharath Reddy. Janardhana Reddy has been named as accused number one in the FIR. Former MLA G Somashekara Reddy has been made accused number two, MLA and former Minister B Sriramulu is the accused number three, and Leader of the Opposition in the Ballari City Corporation Srinivas Motkar is the accused number four. As many as 11 people have been named in the FIR.

According to the complaint, banners were being installed in Ballari for a programme to unveil a statue of Valmiki at Valmiki Circle in the city. Sathish Reddy, an aide of Bharath Reddy took objection to Janardhana Reddy and others allegedly tearing down the banners put up near the BJP leader's residence on Siruguppa Road on Thursday evening. It was alleged that Janardhana Reddy, Somashekara Reddy and their supporters deliberately tore down the banners. They also had an altercation with Sathish Reddy and his gunman Basavaraj and allegedly attacked them, according to the complaint. A police officer, Srinivas, was injured in the incident, Chanal Shekhar said in his complaint and sought appropriate legal action against the accused.

Based on the complaint, the Brucepet police have registered an FIR.

Security tightened

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in Ballari even as the situation remained peaceful on Friday.

One person was killed during the incident on Thursday, the police said.

"The situation was brought under control and additional security has been deployed. At present, the situation remains peaceful and all precautionary measures have been taken to ensure that no untoward incident occurs," a senior police officer said, reported PTI.

Videos circulating on social media showed a private gunman allegedly firing shots in the air as tension gripped the area.

The confrontation occurred ahead of a Valmiki statue unveiling programme, scheduled to be held in the city on Saturday.

According to the police, supporters of Bharath Reddy were attempting to install banners in front of Janardhana Reddy's residence at Avambhavi area, which was opposed by the latter's supporters, leading to a heated exchange. What began as a verbal altercation soon escalated into a physical clash, with supporters from both sides allegedly resorting to stone-pelting.

Police sources said stones were also hurled at personnel who rushed to the spot to bring the situation under control.

Several people were injured during the incident, and their number and identities were being verified, the police said.

As the situation threatened to spiral out of control, the police resorted to a lathi charge and had also fired bullets in the air to disperse the crowd and restore order.

The police said investigations are underway to ascertain the sequence of events and verify the allegations.

(With PTI inputs)