New Delhi: Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra, who had earlier said that a boy was stabbed to death in Bengaluru last night as he refused to speak in Urdu, later backtracked and apologised for the statement.
In an alleged road rage case, Chandru, 22, was murdered by a group of people in JJ Nagar police station limits of Bengaluru on Tuesday night.
After the incident, Jnanendra on Wednesday said that Chandru was killed because he could not speak in Urdu with the accused persons. "The murder has been carried out for refusing to talk in Urdu and for insisting to talk in Kannada language. He was stabbed to death. The police have arrested a few persons and a hunt is on for other accused persons," news agency IANS quoted the Home Minister as saying.
"This is a barbaric incident. After the quarrel, they suddenly stabbed and killed him. I have asked the police to initiate action," he added.
However, soon after he made the statement, Jnandenra clarified that his statement was wrong. "I had spoken after receiving preliminary information. Police have given a detailed report. It is a case of road rage. My statement was wrong. As a Minister for Home, I will have to speak the truth. Road accident is the reason for the murder," he said.
Meanwhile, the minister’s communal statement has received a lot of flak from the Opposition members.
Lashing out on the statement, Opposition leader Siddaramaiah demanded his resignation and said, “He had given statements like this one in the murder case of Bajrang Dal activist Harsha and Mysuru gang-rape case also. He is not able to maintain the portfolio. It is unfortunate that such a person is our Home Minister.”
"Initially, Jnanendra had stated that Harsha had criminal cases against him and later denied... In Mysuru gang rape case, he had said that why women should come out during odd hours to isolated places," Siddaramaiah added.
Slamming Jnanendra, former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said that he had stooped down to the level of carrying out politics in cases of murders.
“He had used the word 'Dalit' instead of 'Hindu'. This is a trivial statement. He has started to carryout political agenda in murders also in the state.”
However, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who was on his Delhi trip on Wednesday said he was not aware of the Home Minister’s remark and would react only after getting information on it.
Confirming that the incident took place on Tuesday night, Police Commissioner Kamal Pant said that the incident happened when Chandru was returning home with his friend Simon Raj on bike.
The quarrel started when their bike collided with the bike of accused Shahid. Others joined in and Chandru was stabbed in the thigh.
Soon after the incident, the accused fled the spot and Chandru succumbed to bleeding in the Victoria Hospital.
Three persons have been arrested in this connection and further investigation is underway, Pant said.
Meanwhile, the Bengaluru Police issued a 'fact-check' on the murder after the minister's statement.
In a fact-check posted on its website, the police concluded that the claim was false and the murder was a result of a road rage. The minister eventually withdrew his statement.