Pramesh S Jain
A Bengaluru court has granted police custody of five accused arrested in connection with the alleged assault on government officials during a court-directed anti-encroachment drive in Shivajinagar.
The five accused—Basavaraj Padukote(56),Raghu (28), Basavaraj (28),Parthiban(23)and Parashu Ram(27)— were produced before the court,which remanded them to police custody from July 22 to July 25 to facilitate further investigation.
The case pertains to the alleged attack on GBA and other government officials who were carrying out an encroachment clearance drive near the Shivajinagar Bus Stand in compliance with court orders.
Police had earlier arrested a total of 12 accused in connection with the incident.
The remaining accused in the case are Shankar (52), Bharat (25),Ranjan (19),Kiran (34),Kotresh (26),Mujahid Ahmed (39) and Rangaswamy (49).
According to police,investigators will interrogate the five accused in custody to ascertain the sequence of events, identify the role played by each accused,recover additional evidence and establish whether the assault was premeditated.
The arrests followed a swift investigation by Commercial Street Police after the alleged assault on government officials triggered strong protests from GBA employees,who had threatened a pen-down strike demanding strict action against those responsible.
Further investigation is underway.
