Bengaluru Police says man who attacked Rakesh Tikait was a murder convict
Bengaluru Police has revealed that one of the accused miscreants in the Rakesh Tikait ink attack case was a murder convict and was released from a Hassan jail in 2015 for good conduct.
The Bengaluru Police said on Wednesday the man who attacked farmers' leader Rakesh Tikait with ink at a press conference in the city on Monday was a murder convict who was released from jail for good conduct.
The incident has drawn widespread criticism over the past two days from netizens, politicians and several other quarters. Soon after the attack, the organisers of the event and the miscreants were seen attacking each other with plastic chairs in a video that has gone viral on social media. Upset over the ink attack, members of farm unions held a protest in Karnal on Tuesday.
The accused has been identified as Shivakumar Atri, 52. He was reportedly released from jail in Karnataka's Hassan in 2015, where he was serving a term for murder, the DCP of crime told news agency PTI.
Further investigation is underway to uncover details and ascertain whether the accused acted on their own or if they were assisted by more miscreants. Police are reportedly working on tracing their connections to find out who might have acted as an instigator in the attack.
Three people have been identified and taken into police custody so far in the ink attack case. The miscreants had approached the stage where Tikait's press conference was held on the pretext of fixing their microphone. The two men then attacked Tikait, with one man striking him with the microphone while the other splashed black ink on the farmer leader.
The three accused were allegedly entered the Gandhi Bhavan, the venue of the press conference, posing as journalists. Soon after the attack, the accused reportedly shouted a 'Modi, Modi' slogan before they were nabbed by the police.
In response to the attack, the farmers' leader took to Twitter on Monday night and said, "The black ink and the deadly attack cannot suppress the voice of farmers, labourers, Dalits, the exploited, backwards and tribals of this country. The fight will continue till the last breath."
Tikait also termed the attack an act in connivance with the state government and claimed there was an attempt to eliminate him. Meanwhile, in the political slugfest that ensued, the Karnataka Congress alleged that the BJP was behind the incident, which the state's home minister Araga Jnanendra dismissed by saying the accused in the case were not associated with the ruling party.
