Tension Grips Mangalore Town After Police Foil Procession Plans for Murdered Activist

Tension is running high in Katipalla, Mangalore, after police scuttled plans to take the body of murdered Bajrang Dal activist Deepak Rao from hospital to his house on a procession, citing security reasons.

Police moved the body of the 28-year-old victim to his house amid a strict security clamp in the city, the surrounding areas in which, activists belonging to the Bajrang Dal and Hindu Jagran Vedike, had called for a bandh, Daijiworld said in a report.

The police move was to prevent ‘untoward incidents’ and maintain law and order, the family was told. But the explanation did not convince Rao’s family, the activists and the locals, who refused to let the police offload the body from the ambulance.

The activists have also taken to social media to express their outrage over the developments:

Rao, who was on a motorbike, was waylaid and killed by the four assailants in a Maruti Swift on 3 January. The police have arrested the assailants who have been identified as Mulky Naushad, Rizwan, Pinky Nawaz and Nirshan.

Thousands of locals gathered around Rao’s residence with authorities trying to convince the protesters to call off the protest. However, the family is said to have agreed to conduct the final rites on being convinced by Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Gopal Bhat.

The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the bereaved family. Member of Parliament Nalin Kumar Kateel has asked for the investigations to be handed over to the National Investigation Agency and that a compensation of Rs 50 lakh be paid to the family of the deceased, reports Daijiworld.