Mysuru : T Narasipura police have registered an FIR against former MP Pratap Simmha and others in connection with a Ganesha idol immersion procession and alleged provocative sloganeering in front of a mosque in the town on Friday.
Police have invoked Sections 132, 191, 194, 196(1)(a), 196(1)(b), 299, 353(1)(b) and 353(1)(c) of the BNS, among other provisions. T Narasipura has remained tense since Sept 7 after a video of a peace committee meeting went viral. The accused have been booked under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including sections related to unlawful assembly, rioting, promoting enmity, public mischief and obstructing public servants in the discharge of their duties. The FIR alleges that Simmha stood on a vehicle and addressed the gathering. It further states that he and his associates gathered in large numbers, obstructed police personnel from performing their duties, and raised provocative and derogatory slogans in a public place. The FIR further states that police prepared a report based on observations made during bandobast duty and after examining videos recorded by police personnel and circulated on social media. The videos and the alleged conversation were copied and preserved as evidence along with the complaint. In the video, inspector Dhananjay allegedly warned Ganesha festival organisers against bursting crackers in front of a mosque on Link Road and carrying out processions without informing police.
The case was registered on Sunday based on a complaint filed by T Narasipura police sub-inspector NM Malleshaiah. The incident occurred around 9pm on Friday when the procession was passing along the controversial Link Road, according to the FIR. The development comes a day after a Congress delegation approached district police on Saturday evening, urging them to register a case against Simmha over what it described as provocative statements made during the procession.