Hindu activist Srikanth Poojary has secured bail on health grounds and will be released from Huballi sub-jail on Saturday, confirmed the kar sevak’s son Manjunath. Speaking exclusively to News18, Manjunath called his father a “fighter who safeguards Hinduism” and a “survivor”.
“He is a survivor and a fighter. He fought for what was right for our country. He was part of the andolan (movement) to safeguard India and Hinduism. After his arrest, he has fought to keep his spirits up, and Lord Ram has come to help him,” said Manjunath.
Expressing his happiness over Poojary’s release, Manjunath said that the first thing that he would do is hug his father. “I will fall at his feet and seek his blessings as well,” the son said.
Poojary had spent eight days in jail and had been named as an accused along with 11 others in a 1992 FIR filed in Huballi. The case was registered on December 6, the day hundreds of kar sevaks brought down the Babri Masjid in UP’s Ayodhya.
Poojary’s lawyer Sanju Badaskar explained the grounds under which his client was granted bail by the courts. The lawyer said that the court allowed bail on health ground and also observed that he was not of ‘absconding nature’. “The case built by the prosecution was weak,” the lawyer said.
The argument made by Poojary’s lawyer was that his client was innocent and that there was no evidence connecting him to the crime. The advocate also pleaded on Poojary’s behalf to the court to take into consideration his health, as he had undergone two operations wherein rods were inserted in his hand. With aged parents and a family depending on him, the lawyer said the petitioner was ready to abide by any condition imposed by the court, including furnishing a surety.
The prosecution argued that the offences under which Poojary had been booked were non-bailable and that he could commit similar crimes again.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Parameshwar Prasanna, after hearing arguments from both sides, observed that “no valid, good, compelling grounds were found to reject the bail of the petitioner at this stage”.
The court granted Poojary regular bail under Section 439 of the CrPC and asked to execute a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh with two sureties each to the Huballi JMFC court. The court also instructed Poojary to appear before it on all dates, except during unavoidable circumstances as well as not to threaten any of the prosecution witnesses or tamper with the evidence.
Pressure had been building on the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government by the Opposition which claimed that the ruling dispensation had been indulging in vindictive politics. The BJP accused Siddaramaiah’s government of targeting kar sevaks and Hindu activists ahead of the inauguration of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.
The BJP launched an ‘I Am Kar Sevak, Arrest Me Too’ campaign with several leaders, including Leader of Opposition and former deputy chief minister R Ashok, being taken into custody twice in two days.
Ashok and other leaders were arrested on Friday amidst chants of ‘Jai Sri Ram’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’. Poojary was arrested on December 29 in a 31-year-old arson case at Hubballi while he was driving his auto. On the intervening night of December 5 and 6 in 1992 Huballi had seen widespread arson and attacks ahead of the Babri Masjid demolition.
The BJP had called for a state-wide protest on January 3 this year and since then has organized sit-in protests at Freedom Park in Bengaluru, Chikkamagalur and other locations. BJP MLA Sunil Kumar and former minister CT Ravi were also detained by the police for their protests.
The state government has maintained that the arrest was a routine affair wherein long pending cases (LPCs) are disposed of. According to Hubballi Police, Poojary has been booked in over 16 cases in the last 31 years. Senior police officials said that 13 cases of bootlegging were lodged against him and three cases were filed against him for allegedly triggering riots and causing hurt between the years 1991 and 2014.
“He also has been booked under IPC sections pertaining to gambling like matka and is a rowdy-sheeter in two police stations (sic),” said Hubballi-Dharwad police commissioner Renuka Sukumar.
The BJP, apart from the protests, has also been seeking the arrest of the Huballi inspector who took Poojary into custody. Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara reacted saying that the officer had done his duty and there was no need to suspend any official.
“Barring the fact that the arrest has been made ahead of the Ram Mandir inauguration in Ayodhya, police have not done anything against the law. The BJP is unnecessarily blowing it up for political reasons. We will not tolerate their politics… Let the BJP protest. If they think there should not be law and order in the state, let them continue the protest,” Parmeshwara told the media.
Senior BJP MLA and former deputy chief minister CN Ashwath Narayan questioned the Congress’s double standards, asking why certain leaders had not been arrested if the ruling is keen on arresting those who break the law. “Why have leaders like BK Hariprasad, and the CM’s son, Yathindra, not being arrested? Isn’t Hariprasad’s comment that a Godhra-like incident could happen in Karnataka malicious and inciting communal disharmony? He is creating a divide and you are letting him off? Where is the justice that the Congress claims of?”
Varuna MLA and Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra had stirred a controversy recently with his statement that if India transforms into a Hindu Rashtra, it would resemble countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan that are “under dictatorship” and are facing socio-economic bankruptcy.
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