On the run for a month, Karnataka Congress MLA arrested in Gujarat

J N Ganesh had been absconding for a month after assaulting a fellow legislator Anand SIngh at a resort near Bengaluru.

The Karnataka police on Wednesday said they have arrested absconding Congress legislator JN Ganesh who is accused of assaulting party colleague Anand Singh at a private resort outside Bengaluru in January.

Comgress MLA J N Ganesh went missing after an FIR was lodged on January 21 for attempted murder. (HT PHOTO)

“Ganesh was arrested around 2 pm near the Somnath temple.in Gujarat. He is being brought back to Bidadi,” said Inspector General of Police (Central Range) B Dayanand.

Ganesh, Congress MLA from Kampali constituency, had assaulted Singh in the early hours of January 20, when the Congress legislators had been put up at the Eagleton Golf Resort in Bidadi in Ramanagara district, on the outskirts of the state capital, in a bid to stop alleged poaching by the Bharatiya Janata Party. An FIR had been filed against Ganesh at the Bidadi police station on January 21 but by then Ganesh had gone missing.

Ganesh had earlier said that there was no fight with Singh and that the latter he had fallen and got hurt.

Karnatah home minister M B Patil had said last month that Ganesh would “not be spared” and would be arrested at the earliest.

The party leaders had initially denied the fracas and then sought to play down the assault, but they changed their mind after seeing Singh’s injuries. Ganesh was placed under temporary suspension by the Congress pending the report of an enquiry committee comprising deputy chief minister G Parameshwara, industries minister KJ George and rural development minister Krishna Byregowda.

Congress rebel Ramesh Jarkiholi had triggered speculation after he met Ganesh’s family on Tuesday. He told reporters afterwards that injustice had been meted out to the MLA.