Bengaluru Central MP PC Mohan, Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, Chickpete MLA Uday Garudachar, and former BBMP mayor NR Ramesh were among the prominent BJP leaders participating at an event on Sunday, 27 November, in Bengaluru.
It would just be another socio-political event but for a particular individual sharing the dais with them.
It just so happened to be notorious rowdy and history-sheeter “Silent” Sunil.
This is the same person who was marked as “absconding” or “missing” by the City Crime Branch (CCB) of the police in Bengaluru during a surprise crackdown on anti-social elements on 23 November.
The visuals of the prominent BJP leaders sharing the stage with this infamous rowdy came as a major embarrassment to the saffron party.
Notorious gangster Silent Sunil who is absconding according to CCB was seen attending a blood donation program with BJP leaders and MP PC Mohan in Chamrajpet on Sunday. Also Fighter Ravi was spotted at a political program in Malleswaram @TheSouthfirst @anusharavi10 pic.twitter.com/tPUvuJIEQ9
— Bellie Thomas (@belliethomas) November 28, 2022
Silent Sunil all smiles with BJP leaders on stage
Sunil Kumar, better recognised as Silent Sunil, shared the dais with prominent BJP leaders at the event in Chamarajpet in Bengaluru on Sunday amid thick police security.
Ironically, the rowdy sheeter was listed as “absconding” according to the recent raids carried out by the CCB less than a week ago.
The stage was set on Sunday for both the Kannada Rajyotsava celebrations and also observing the first death anniversary of late actor Puneeth Rajkumar at the GS Venkataram Kalabhavana in Chamarajapet.
There was also a Rashtrotthana Blood Donation campaign organised by Silent Sunil, where volunteers could donate blood.
Sunil also donated blood before getting on the dais and lighting the lamp along with MP PC Mohan, NR Ramesh and other BJP leaders.
Sunil also managed to give a brief speech on the occasion, thanking all the dignitaries and leaders on the stage.
CCB raids on 23 November
The CCB sleuths on Wednesday, 23 November, conducted raids and searches at almost all the rowdy elements’ houses in Bengaluru.
The raids were carried out in the early hours — from 2.30 am — headed by five Assistant Commissioners of Police, 19 police inspectors, and a total of 160 police personnel.
The raids were part of a routine task before every election to keep a check on criminal activities, especially in relation to polls and their campaigns, a senior police officer said.
The CCB sleuths managed to pick up 26 rowdies and took them into preventive custody, but the cops maintained that around 14 rowdies — including Silent Sunil, Cycle Ravi, JCB Narayana, Wilson Garden Naga, and Onte Rohit — had gone “absconding”. Yes, these people have some unusual monikers.
“The ones who managed to escape are notorious rowdies and were probably tipped off regarding the raids on Wednesday,” a source from CCB quipped.
“One rowdy named Star Naveen was chased by the cops like in movies. He dropped his phone and dagger and escaped.”
BJP leaders respond
Four days later, Sunil and his associates organised this political function at Chamarajapet amid tight police security.
According to CCB sources, there were many rowdy elements and their associates — around 80 of them — who organised and participated in the function, indicating Silent Sunil could sneak his way into politics.
Rowdy elements sharing the stage with prominent BJP leaders with the elections barely months away came under severe scrutiny.
Soon after the news spread on Monday, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi said he had no idea what it was all about. “We will inquire with them (BJP leaders) and find out,” Joshi said.
Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said he had no information about the incident, and that he would check on it and comment.
Meanwhile, MLA Udhay Garudachar said he knew the rowdy sheeter only as Sunil and an acquaintance doing “social work”. “I had no idea that he was Silent Sunil and that he is a rowdy,” Garudachar told reporters.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sharanappa told South First: “It is true that we conducted raids on 23 November. At that time, there were some rowdies present at their house who were picked up and their rowdy sheets updated. The others we were picking up on the subsequent days as a part of rowdy surveillance and not because criminal cases are pending against them.”
He added: “It is wrongly portrayed that there are cases pending against rowdies and the police have let them go absconding. Only later did we get to know this fellow (Sunil) had attended a function.”
Another rowdy in the news
Meanwhile, another rowdy, Fighter Ravi, locked horns with a JD(S) party worker in the Mandya district’s Nagamangala taluk recently.
A phone conversation involving Ravi and JD(S) worker Chethan went viral on Monday, in which Ravi is heard abusing Chethan and even threatening him with dire consequences for allegedly defaming him on social media.
Recently, he and his associates went to a school where he was planning to instal a water purifier. Meanwhile, JD(S) leader Srinivas Gowda’s associates rushed to the school and objected to him installing the water purifer. There was a heated argument, after which they dispersed.
The JD(S) workers allegedly called Ravi a “rowdy and stooge of the BJP” on social media, which irked Ravi, who has reportedly been eyeing a BJP ticket to contest in Nagamangala.
