The existing rules require those organising any event in any public space to obtain permission from the authorities concerned.
Puneeth Kerehalli with his taser stun gun at Electronic City toll plaza on 20 March. (Supplied)
Puneeth Kerehalli is a murder-accused, self-anointed protector of cows. For the Opposition BJP in Karnataka, he is apparently a “peace-loving” Hindu.
Now out on bail, Kerehalli made headlines once again when he put up an open invitation online for worshipping Naga Devaru — the serpent god — at a Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)-owned ground at Upparpet in West Bengaluru on Sunday, 9 July.
Before the puja commenced, the Upparpet police issued a notice to Kerehalli, seeking to know if he had taken permission from the authorities concerned to hold such an event in a public space.
According to the existing rules, organisers should get the permission of the civic body — in this case, the BBMP — and the police for an event if it is open to the general public.
A senior police officer attached to the Upparpet Police Station told South First that Kerehalli had been conducting some rituals every Sunday at the BBMP ground.
The police notice to Kerehalli angered the BJP, and it played the Hindu card.
“Why do only Hindus have rules for praying together that no other religion has?” it asked the Congress government.
Taking to Twitter, the Karnataka unit of the party added: “Peace-loving Hindus should get prior permission from the government to worship.” It also uploaded a photograph of the police notice.
It may be noted that the police, as recently as 26 June, issued a notice to Kerehalli over the inclusion of his name in the list of rowdies in the state, because he had been accused in at least six different cases — including murder and assault — since 2021.
ನೆಮ್ಮದಿಯ ತವರೂರಾಗಿದ್ದ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದಲ್ಲಿ, ಹಿಂದೂಗಳನ್ನು ದ್ವೇಷಿಸಲು ಸದಾ "ಸಿದ್ದ"ವಾಗಿದೆ, @siddaramaiahರವರ #ATMSarkara.
ಶಾಂತಿಪ್ರಿಯ ಹಿಂದೂಗಳು ಪೂಜೆ ಮಾಡಲು ಸರ್ಕಾರದಿಂದ ಪೂರ್ವಾನುಮತಿ ಪಡೆಯಬೇಕಂತೆ!!
ಒಟ್ಟಾಗಿ ಪ್ರಾರ್ಥನೆ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸಲು ಬೇರೆ ಯಾವ ಧರ್ಮಗಳಿಗೂ ಇಲ್ಲದ ನಿಯಮಗಳು, ಕೇವಲ ಹಿಂದೂಗಳಿಗೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ಏಕೆ…?
ಉತ್ತರಿಸಿ… pic.twitter.com/3hrY754BIz
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) July 10, 2023
In April, the Ramnagara police arrested Kerehalli and his associates from the Banswara district in Rajasthan, where they had been hiding after allegedly murdering a 39-year-old cattle trader named Idrees Pasha.
Kerehalli and the gang reportedly chased the victim after waylaying his truck before killing him on 1 April.
The incident occurred near Santhemale Circle close to the Sathanur Police Station in the Ramanagara district of Karnataka.
Eleven days before Pasha’s murder, the gang allegedly tortured two men with a taser gun.
A video that the gang shot to brag about their actions went viral and the family members of one of the assaulted men forced him to complain to the Electronic City police.
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