Sending a strong signal to the police personnel planning to go on a strike on June 4, the Bengaluru city police arrested Shashidhar Venugopal, president of Akhila Karnataka Police Mahasangha, from his residence in Yelahanka in the wee hours on Thursday.
According to police sources, Venugopal has been charged with sedition, Essential Services Maintenance Act and other sections under the Indian Penal Code.
Mr. Venugopal was spearheading the protest by police personnel scheduled on June 4, pressing for the long pending demands of junior police personnel in the state.
Sources said that a team of police at around 12.30 a.m. on Thursday barged into Venugopal’s house and arrested him. His family members alleged that the police smashed his daughter’s mobile phone, as she tried to take a video of the arrest. His family later put out a post about the arrest and urged the police personnel to go ahead with the plans and strike work.
Mr. Venugopal was produced before the court and remanded to judicial custody till June 16.
Meanwhile, sources in the central prison, where Mr. Venugopal is currently lodged, said that he had refused breakfast in the morning, opposing his arrest. Medical examination revealed that he was suffering from blood pressure and diabetes. The staff at the prison, it is said, have been trying to convince Mr. Venugopal to have food. However, senior police officials of the jail refused to either confirm or deny the development.
