Tension prevailed in the communally-sensitive JC Nagar area of Bengaluru Thursday after the death of a local youth who was stabbed Wednesday night, allegedly by four people from his neighbourhood. Additional force have been deployed in the area.
A local BJP leader claimed that the victim was a party worker and was killed following a dispute over tying party banners in the locality for a BJP rally on February 4 , to be addressed by PM Narendra Modi. Police, however, said the murder was the result of disputes over a three-month period. Santosh Kalidas (28), a resident of Chinappa Garden in JC Nagar was stabbed in his thigh by four people following an altercation. Shortly after the murder, the police arrested four suspects — Wasim Ahmed, Philip, Umar and Irfan— all residents of the locality.
“The incident occurred around 7.45 pm Wednesday. Santosh Kalidas and seven others were returning home from a party when an altercation broke out between them. The arguement flared into a fight and Wasim stabbed Santosh in his thigh. Santosh was rushed to a hospital where he died,” said DCP, Bengaluru (north division), Chethan Singh Rathore.
As per the complaint filed by eyewitness Ashokan, Santosh and Wasim fought three months ago over alleged drug use in the area by Wasim and his friends. Police said Wasim’s father was a Congress worker but denied knowledge of Santosh being a BJP worker. BJP MP, Bengaluru North, and Union minister D V Sadananda Gowda termed the murder a consequence of a Congress government draft circular seeking to drop cases filed against “innocent minorities’’ during communal disturbances and protests.
“What will you call the murder of this Dalit youth? Will you call it a murder by the innocent,’’ Sadananda Gowda tweeted. Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy responded by saying that state police views all murders objectively. “Let the people decide whether they want political leaders who want to stoke communal embers or those who work for peace”.