Probe into leader’s Rs 10-lakh reward for killing Amulya Leona

BENGALURU: A pro-Hindu outfit leader is under the scanner for allegedly offering a Rs 10-lakh reward to anyone killing Bengaluru student activist Amulya Leona, jailed for shouting pro-Pakistan slogans at an anti-CAA rally here on Thursday, police said on Sunday.

“Though no complaint has been filed or case booked against Sri Rama Sene leader Sanjeev Maradi for making the alleged offer, we are analyzing a video clip being circulated on social media to ascertain its content and summon him for questioning,” Ballari Superintendent of Police C. K. Baba told IANS on phone. Ballari is about 31 km northwest of Bengaluru in the southern state. Neither Ballari-based Maradi nor Sene chief Pramod Muthalik was reachable for authenticating the threat and the bounty in the video clip in circulation.

“We will book a case against Maradi if he made such an offer and owns it up as it amounts to abetment of the crime,” asserted Baba. In the video clip, Maradi is seen and heard saying in Kannada that the “Sene would give Rs 10-lakh award to anyone who kills Amulya, who shouted ‘Pakistan zindabad’ thrice at a rally in Bengaluru the other day”. The 19-year-old college student was arrested and sent to 14-day judicial custody on Friday on sedition charges under Section 125A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for the pro-Pakistan slogan at the anti-CAA rally at Freedom Park in the city center.

In the video clip that went viral, Maradi also said Amulya should not be given bail for any reason and threatened to stage an encounter to eliminate her when she is released from the central jail on the city’s southern outskirts.

“We will give Rs 10 lakh to anyone who stages the encounter to eliminate her,” Maradi is heard claiming. In fact, All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and its Lok Sabha member from Hyderabad, Asauddin Owaisi, who was present on the occasion, tried to stop the gritty Amulya from repeating the pro-Pakistan slogan. The dramatic incident, which embarrassed Owaisi and the rally organizers - Hindu-Muslim-Sikh-Issai Federation, occurred when Amulya was called on the dais to address the gathering in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) under the banner of “Save Our Constitution”. (IANS)

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