Sindhanur in Raichur district turned tense on Tuesday after verbal clashes erupted between fans of actor late Puneeth Rajkumar and the police over installing the actor’s statue outside the newly inaugurated Ranga Mandir in the city.
According to sources, the police prevented the actor’s fans who were taking the statue from Ganesh Temple near APMC Yard to the Ranga Mandir in a grand procession to install it there.
Tahsildar Arun Desai and City Municipal Commissioner Manjunath reached the spot and told the actor’s fans that the CMC has not issued any permission to install the statue outside the Ranga Mandir.
They told them that the matter will be finalised after a meeting of all parties, actors, and private organisations scheduled on March 20-21. However, the actor’s fans were not ready to listen to them and they continued the procession till the Ranga Mandir.
Immediately, the fans started pushing the police personnel away and some in the procession even tried to assault Sub-Inspector of Police Manikanth for raising objections to their plan to install the statue.
The actor’s fans said that Mr. Manikanth assaulted a fan and sought action against him. However, the police managed to bring the situation under control.
Meanwhile, some people gathered outside the police station and urged the police to take immediate action against those who tried to assault the Sub-Inspector.
The situation is under control now as the police have deployed additional forces at the spot. But there is no information available whether a case has been registered.
The newly constructed Ranga Mandir was inaugurated on Monday by Member of Legislative Assembly Venkatrao Nadagouda.
