Pics: Spoorthi Ullal

Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (JS)

Mangaluru, Oct 16: A day after a key eyewitness in the murder of flower vendor and Bajrang Dal activist Prashant Poojary allegedly committed suicide in Moodbidri, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel claimed that the deceased, Vaman Poojary, had received calls from Pakistan.

Vaman Poojary (68), who was present at the spot when Prashant Poojary was hacked to death on the morning of October 9, was found hanging in a shed near his daughter's house on the evening of Thursday October 15.

Addressing a press meet at the district BJP office here on Friday Ocober 16, Nalin Kumar said, "The family of Vaman Poojary has said that he was getting calls from Pakistan and the caller was speaking in Hindi. There is conspiracy behind this."

He also informed that the BJP with support of the party's state leaders will hold a massive protest in the city on October 20.

"There have been continuous attacks on Hindus in the recent past, but the police department has failed to nab the culprits. In just three months, there have been around seven attacks on Hindu youths, among which the major one is the murder of Prashant Poojary, who was a social activist and also activist of our pro-Hindu organization. No leader of Congress has condemned the murder nor announced any compensation. The police are also not giving any information about the case and no one has been arrested so far. BJP condemns this and we will be holding a protest by garlanding Dr B R Ambedkar's statue on October 20.

"BJP leaders like former chief minister Yeddyurappa, former ministers Eshwarappa, R Ashok and Suresh Kumar, MP Shobha Karandlaje and top leaders of the state BJP will attend the protest," he added.

"Yeddyurappa has already given a deadline to the state government to arrest the culprits before October 19. If this is not done, we will go ahead with the protest on October 20," he said.

Claiming that it was a revenge attack, Nalin Kumar said, "When an illegal slaughterhouse was busted in Moodbidri, one Haneef had made a provocative speech during a protest at Moodbidri bus stand wherein he said they would take revenge against all those who were involved in the raid on the slaughterhouse. The point to be noted is that Prashant was murdered only a few days later at the same spot where the protest was held. But no action has been taken against Haneef.

"Prashant had named four people he suspected of conspiring against him, but the police have failed to arrested them," he added.

"All these things have created fear in the minds of the people, forcing them to spend sleepless nights. This case shows that politicians are supporting criminals. The home minister and other ministers from the district have failed and the police department is inefficient. If had taken police interest, they could have arrested the culprits by now," he said.

When asked about unconfirmed reports that police had already arrested four people in the case, Nalin Kumar said, "I do not know if police have arrested anyone, but if so, they should announce it publicly and disclose the names of the accused."

"I have a suspicion that the home minister (K J George) and other ministers have a hand in this case," he added.

Former MLC Monappa Bhandary, former Krishna Palemar, district BJP president Pratap Simha and others were present.