Kidnap bid case: BJP protests police notice to Yeddyurappa

BJP workers protested in front of the Mahalakshmi Layout police station on Saturday, condemning a notice served on the party's state president, B S Yeddyurappa.

Police on September 22 summoned the senior BJP leader in a case pertaining to the attempted kidnap of Vinay Bidre, the personal assistant of another party leader and his bête noire, K S Eshwarappa. The notice, issued by Malleswaram subdivision ACP, A R Badiger, asked Yeddyurappa to appear for questioning at 10.30 am on September 28.

The protesters, led by the BJP's Malleswaram MLA C N Ashwath Narayan and former deputy mayor S Harish, urged the police to withdraw the notice. "The notice is politically motivated. The government is misusing the police to target Yeddyurappa. The police are acting as the government's agent," Ashwath Narayan said.

Like in other cases, the police should visit Yeddyurappa's residence and obtain his statement. An attempt is being made to tarnish Yeddyurappa's image, he added.

Additional policemen were posted around the police station as Bidre, the complainant in the case, arrived to record his statement.

"It's the prerogative of the investigating officer to serve a notice on or visit a person's house to get his/her statement. The investigating officer will take suitable action as per the law," Chetan Singh Rathore, DCP (North), said when DH asked him whether the notice would be withdrawn.