BJP worker arrested over death threats to Congress MLA Priyank Kharge

After Rathod’s threat to the Congress leader, party workers on Sunday urged the district administration to take stern action against him and provide Z+ security cover to Kharge. They even threaten to gherao chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, who visited Kalaburagi, on Monday.

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Manikant Rathod, BJP worker from Karnataka’s Kalaburagi district who had allegedly issued death threats to Congress legislator Priyank Kharge last week, was booked under Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. (ANI)

Bengaluru: A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker from Karnataka’s Kalaburagi district has been arrested in Hyderabad for allegedly issuing death threats to Congress legislator Priyank Kharge, police said.

Manikant Rathod from Chittapur in Kalaburagi was released on bail on Monday hours after his arrest late on Sunday night, police said.

Rathod, who had allegedly issued death threats to the Chittapur MLA last week, was booked under Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) based on a complaint by local Congress leaders at the Brahmapur police station in Kalaburagi on Saturday.

After Rathod’s threat to the Congress leader, party workers on Sunday urged the district administration to take stern action against him and provide Z+ security cover to Kharge. They even threaten to gherao chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, who visited Kalaburagi, on Monday.

In a press conference on Friday, Rathod had allegedly threatened to kill Kharge. “If you shoot us, we are also ready to shoot you,” he had said.

Soon after the statement, former Karnataka minister and Congress leader Sharan Prakash Patil alleged that the BJP-led state government was threatening Kharge using party workers for exposing a series of corruption, including irregularities in the police sub-inspector (PSI) recruitment and Bitcoin scam.

The Congress also alleged that after coming to power, the BJP government had withdrawn the security cover provided to Kharge even though he received multiple threats.

A controversy erupted last week in Chittapur where posters saying “Priyank Kharge missing” were spotted at a few places, at a time when the Congress legislator was taking part in the “Bharat Jodo Yatra”.

BJP workers led by former zilla panchayat member Aravind Chauhan had put up the posters, saying the MLA was missing from the constituency for the past one-and-a-half months.

The move sparked protests by Congress workers, who alleged the BJP put up the posters to disturb the peace.