The Bengaluru police on Thursday arrested six members of radical Islamic organisation Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) in connection with the attempted murder of an RSS worker Varun Bhoopalam. They also unearthed a plot to kill influential Right-wing ideologue Chakravarthy Sulibele and Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya.
According to the reports, 31-year-old BJP cadre Varun Bhoopalam was attacked with machetes and knives while he was returning from a pro-Citizenship Amendment Act gathering at Town Hall on December 22.
The Bengaluru police soon began to nab the culprits and arrested six SDPI members in connection with an attempt to kill BJP worker Varun Bhoopalam. During the investigation, the six accused revealed to the investigating officials that they were hired as hitmen to stab social worker Chakravarthy Sulibele and Tejasvi Surya, who had also taken part at the gathering on December 22.
The arrested include Mohammed Ishan (33), Syed Akbar (46), Syed Siddique Akbar (30), Akbar Basha (27), Sanaullah Pasha (28) and Sadiq-ul-Ameen (39).
Initially, the gang pelted seven stones at the crowd to create chaos near the rally site and to create a distraction so that they could attack either one of the influential leaders. However, the stone-pelting did not create any ruckus at the gathering. As their plan failed, the gang wanted to kill any of the Hindu workers who attended the rally.
Later, they followed Varun Bhoopalam who was on his way home on a rented bike. They attacked him near Kalasipalya and fled towards Bidadi. In fact, two of them returned to see if the man had indeed died. But by then Varun was shifted to Victoria Hospital and later survived.
Reportedly, a case has been registered against the accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Bengaluru Police is constituting a new Special Investigation Team (SIT) to handle this case.
Bhaskar Rao, Bengaluru Commissioner of Police said that these SDPI workers were there in Bengaluru to carry out attacks on leaders supporting CAA. He added that they were being paid Rs 10,000 from their handlers to create ruckus. The case has now been handed over to anti-terror unit.
He added that these six people do not have any contact with the Muslim community leaders. They were told to create panic in Bengaluru. The six accused were produced in court on Friday and have been remanded to police custody till January 20.