New Delhi: Bengaluru Police apprehended three individuals for allegedly chanting 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans within the corridors of Vidhana Soudha on February 27, police said on Monday.
The incident reportedly occurred after the victory of Congress leader Syed Naseer Hussain in the Rajya Sabha elections, reported PTI.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has instructed an investigation by the government-run Forensic Science Laboratory to verify the authenticity of the claims.
Based on the FSL report, the police arrested three suspects, one from RT Nagar in Bengaluru, another from Byadagi in Haveri district, and the third from Delhi. The individual from Byadagi is purportedly a chili merchant, according to PTI.
Meanwhile, the BJP posted on its social media handle an investigation report prepared by private laboratory Clue4 Evidence Forensic Investigations and signed by audio forensic examiner Phaneendar B N on behalf of city-based 'Samvada Foundation', a not-for-profit organisation allegedly linked to the RSS.
Phaneendar said the examined video of the incident is "not tampered/doctored in between and is a result of single capture." The inference drawn by him is: "To the limited extent of the question in this case, being whether if it was Nasir (sic) Saab Zindabad' or 'Pakistan Zindabad', the above analysis indicates that it is highly probable to be 'Pakistan Zindabad'," as per the PTI report.
State Home Minister G Parameshwara sought to know whether the private person who prepared the report had his own laboratory and had done the analysis. "We will find out with whose permission they are doing it, who gave him 'No Objection Certificate' and is he authorised to make such reports public," the home minister said.
He stated that the government's FSL report would be disclosed once it's finalized. "If the report says that such a slogan was raised, then we will take action immediately. There is no question of hiding it, as alleged by the BJP," the PTI report added.
The BJP accused the Congress of spreading falsehoods and labeled Minister Priyank Kharge as the "head of the anti-national @INCKarnataka and fake news factory."
Kharge criticized the BJP's use of a private forensic lab, calling it an "anti-national act." He questioned the credibility of the Clue4 Evidence Forensic Investigation and raised concerns about the source of the raw footage provided to the private lab, reported PTI.
Congress Spokesperson A N Nataraj Gowda filed a complaint against BJP state President B Y Vijayendra and the BJP Karnataka unit’s IT cell chief for disseminating a "fake forensic report" on social media.
The complaint was lodged at the Cyber, Economic, and Narcotics (CEN) crime police station in the Bengaluru West division, as per PTI.