The State unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the killing of Bajrang Dal activist Prashant Poojary by motorcycle-borne men on October 9 in Moodbidri, Dakshina Kannada district.
The demand from the party came even as its national president Amit Shah, in a media interview, said there was “silence” over the murder of a Hindutva activist in contrast to the “selective outrage” over the lynching of a Muslim man at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh on suspicion that there was beef in his house.
BJP State president Pralhad Joshi told presspersons that Poojary was against cattle trafficking and had been involved in several raids on slaughter houses in the past. His opposition to the beef industry was the reason for his murder, he said. He said Poojary was not a member of the party, but “nobody had a licence to eliminate him”.
Mr. Joshi linked the murder to the dropping of cases against activists of pro-Muslim organisations such as the Popular Front of India (PFI). He said they “embolden by the government’s support”. He said the Congress-led government was “directly responsible for the Moodbidri incident” and demanded a ban on the PFI. The BJP also sought Rs. 25 lakh as compensation to Poojary’s family.
The BJP leader alleged that there was “systematic attempt to hush up the case”. He claimed Mangaluru Police Commissioner S. Murugan was “not a competent official to handle the case”.
He criticised the “attitude” of the three Ministers from the district who had not met Poojary’s family. Mr. Joshi also criticised the writers who were condemning the Dadri incident but not showing the same gesture towards the Moodbidri incident.
BJP State president Pralhad Joshi has alleged that there is ‘systematic attempt to hush up the case’
