Congress leader S. Narayanaswamy, who had threatened to set a civic ward office at Horamavu on fire, was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days after he surrendered to the police on Friday morning. On February 16, he had poured petrol on the office premises after officials refused to register a disputed property in his name.
A video clip of the incident was uploaded on social media and a complaint was lodged with the police.
Mr. Narayanaswamy, who was absconding since then, surrendered before the jurisdictional Ramamurthynagar police on Friday. “We recorded his statement before taking him to the Horamavu BBMP office for spot inspection,” said the police. He is said to have confessed that it was a desperate measure to get a B-khata for a land under litigation in Horamavu.
An FSL team then went along with him to collect the bottle with petrol that was recovered, and after all formalities, the inspector produced him before a magistrate, who remanded him in judicial custody.
The next hearing is on March 8.
“Our initial probe revealed that Mr. Narayanaswamy, with the help of his brother, went to Mysuru, Kukke Subramanya, Mangaluru, and Chikkamagaluru before stopping at Kalaburagi,” said a police officer, adding that a special police team, which was tracking him, had also questioned his son the night before he surrendered.
He has been booked under Section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty); 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint); 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), and 427 (Mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) of the Indian Penal Code.
