As a preemptive measure, the police on Sunday arrested, and later released, several social activists in Sagar city who had threatened to stage a protest during the visit of Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.
Mr. Yediyurappa visited Sagar on Sunday to attend the wedding of the daughter of Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri. Parameshwar Dugur, a functionary of the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti, had recently threatened to stage protest during Mr. Yediyurappa’s visit to express ire against the delay in inauguration of the Indira Canteen in Sagar. Mr. Dugur had said that though infrastructure for the canteen was ready, its opening has been delayed owing to the negligence of the BJP government.
On Sunday morning, the police arrested Mr. Dugur from his residence. He was confined at the police station for a while and was released only after the Chief Minister left Sagar.
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As many as eight functionaries of the Tipu Sultan Sahara Yuvaka Sangha had planned to waive black flags at the Chief Minister’s cavalcade near the taluk office to register their protest against the government’s stand on Tipu Jayanti celebrations and the demand of some BJP leaders to erase Tipu from textbooks. Prior to the arrival of the CM’s convoy, the functionaries of the forum were arrested and taken to the office of the Deputy Superintendent of Police. They were released later.
At the helipad in Mankalale on the outskirts of Sagar where Mr. Yediyurappa’s helicopter landed, police personnel were deployed in large numbers.