Amid border tension with Maharashtra, prohibitory order imposed in Karnataka's Belagavi

Prohibitory orders were issued in the city and taluk on Saturday following two untoward incidents of vandalisation of freedom fighter Sangolli Rayannas statue and hurling stones at government vehiclesAccording to the Police Commissioners office the prohibitory order is imposed under Section 144 CrPC from 8 am on December 18 to 6 pm on December 19 for Belagavi police commissionerate area which comprises Belagavi talukThe incident occurred when the city is hosting the winter session of state legislature at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha hereCondemning the incidents as unruly Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said he has directed the Home Minister to take strict action against those trying to disturb peace and order following which some arrests have been made in connection with the incidentSpeaking to reporters in Hubballi the CM said Incidents like stone pelting causing damage to public property and government vehicles is illegal so police have been directed to take long term measures so that such incidents dont recur Noting that the attitude of defacing or desecrating statues of national heroes and patriotic leaders was not right Bommai said such leaders belong to every community and need to be respectedResponding to a question he said several other factors including the timing of the incident when the legislature session is on will all be part of the investigation President of Sangolli Rayanna Sene Shivaraj Holimath on Saturday complained to the Tilakwadi police that the Sangolli Rayanna statue that was not yet installed kept in front of his house at Angol in south Belagavi was damagedHe has alleged that some unknown people caused damage to the statue on Friday night and sped when he raised an alarmAccording to police the statue has been shifted to Tilakwadi police station and a police force has been deployed in the areaEarlier in an incident in North Belagavi a crowd gathered near Sambhaji Circle around midnight and started shouting slogans and began pelting government and police vehicles with stonesThey reportedly resorted to violence after news broke about alleged desecration of Shivaji Maharajs statue in Bengaluru Police intervened and brought the situation under control official sources saidHome Minister Araga Jnanendra said police have been directed to take merciless action against those involved in such act and an FIR has been registered in connection with the incidents and some arrests have been madePolice have been asked to see to it that such incidents dont repeat Both Marathi and Kannada speaking people are living peacefully in Belagavi but some miscreants are trying to disturb and vitiate the atmosphere he said while urging that no one should use stalwarts like Sangolli Rayaanna or Shivaji Maharaj for petty politics in the name of any community or languageFormer Chief Ministers B S Yediyurappa Siddaramaiah H D Kumaraswamy also state Congress chief D K Shivakumar among others have condemned the incidents and have asked the government and police to take strict action against the miscreantsMost of them have appealed to people to maintain peaceThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever