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A court in Karnataka's Hubballi granted bail to Shrikant Pujari, who was arrested for alleged involvement in the riots after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992.
Shrikant Pujari's advocate, Sanjeev Badasaka, while speaking to media personnel about the court order, said that Pujari will be released on bail by tomorrow evening. "We welcome the court order. The conditions (of the bail) are yet to be seen. The copy is not yet available. After taking the copy, we will apply. He will be released by tomorrow evening," he said. After the bail to Pujari, his son Manjunath also spoke to media personnel and expressed his happiness and gratitude over the court's decision. "The bail was granted today and I want to thank the lawyer and all the patriots of the country," he said. Karnataka Minister Satish Jarkiholi, speaking on the court's decision, said, "He got the bail but the case will also continue. The court will decide who is right and who is not." Meanwhile, Karnataka Minister MB Patil also lashed out at the accused Karsevak and said, "He (Shrikant Pujari) has 18 cases against him. He was thrown out of the district." Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge, speaking on bail, said, "Pujari has been granted bail; it is the court's decision. We are not interfering with any of the legal processes. But if the BJP people want to be arrested, we'll be more than happy to arrest them if they break the law. As long as someone is within the legal limits, why should we trouble any citizen? But if you are going to create unnecessary chaos by invoking god's name or any other thing then we will take action as per the law." There was a heated exchange of arguments between BJP and Congress in Karnataka over the arrest of Hindu activist Shrikanth Pujari for his alleged involvement in the Babri Masjid demolition riots in 1992. The leader of the opposition in Karnataka, R. Ashok, alleged that the reason behind the arrest of the Hindu activist was the scheduled grand consecration of Ram Mandir on January 22. "Congress party arrested a 'Karsevak' because the Ram Temple is going to be inaugurated this month, to create fear among the people of Karnataka.. BK Hariprasad has already given a statement of a 'Godhra-like' incident re-entry in Karnataka. Siddaramaiah went one step ahead and arrested a 'Karasevak', he said. Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra on Tuesday accused the Congress-led state government of being "anti-Hindu". "Karnataka government is proving again and again that it is an anti-Hindu government. Yesterday in Hubballi, they reopened a 31-year-old case, and Hindu worker Srikant Poojari was arrested; we strongly condemn this," Vijayendra said. However, the Congress party refuted all allegations of "political vendetta" in connection with the arrest of a man linked to the riots that took place after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. Speaking on the arrest, CM Siddaramaiah asked, "What should be done to the wrongdoers? Should we just leave them?" "We have told the police to dispose of old cases. No innocents have been arrested. We will proceed according to the court's direction," he said while speaking to reporters during his visit to Basapur Airport in Koppa. (ANI)
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