Three more persons have been arrested on the charge of murdering BJP member Praveen Poojary on Wednesday, taking the total number of arrested to 21.
Activists allegedly belonging to Hindu Jagarana Vedike (HJV) assaulted Praveen and Akshaya Devadiga in Karjige village near Hebri alleging that they were transporting cows to a slaughterhouse. Praveen succumbed to the injuries in a hospital at Brahmavar.
The police gave the names of the arrested as Pratheek (18), Sudeep (20) and Manjesh (21). Superintendent of Police K.T. Balakrishna told The Hindu that they were arrested near Hebri in the early hours of Saturday.
Meanwhile, three days after the incident, HJV has distanced itself from the murder. In a press release issued here, Jagadish Karanth, zonal organising secretary of HJV, said the vedike was being “unnecessarily dragged into the incident”. He condemned the arrest of their activist Aravind Koteshwar in the case, calling it a conspiracy. “Protection of cows was one of the aims of HJV and it had saved several cows from being sent to slaughterhouses in the last 29 years. HJV had not taken law into its hands and would continue its work of protecting cows,” he claimed. The government was squarely responsible for the incident because it was failing to implement cow protection laws effectively, he added.
On Saturday at a press meet, Vishwesha Tirtha Swami of Paryaya Pejawar Mutt condemned the attack and killing of Praveen, who belonged to a backward community. No group had the right to resort to violence and kill anyone in the name of protecting cows, he said, emphasising that this had taken place just after the Una incident where seven Dalit youth were beaten up in Gujarat.
“Both, the murder of Praveen Poojary and the Una incident, are blots on the entire Hindu community. These incidents have brought a bad name to Hindu religion. I am saddened by these incidents,” he said. No one had the right to assault anyone, be it Hindu, Muslim or anyone else, he said.
The murder of Praveen Poojary and the Una incident are blots on the Hindu community. The incidents have brought a bad name to the religion.
Vishwesha Tirtha SwamiParyaya Pejawar Mutt
