A group of activists on Monday took out a protest march to the house of Mangaluru South MLA J.R. Lobo here to condemn the delay in the arrest of NaMo Brigade’s Mangaluru unit convener Naresh Shenoy in connection with the murder of 51-year-old RTI Activist Vinayak Baliga.
Those from the Democratic Youth Federation of India, Dalit Sangarsha Samiti, and the Students Federation of India participated in the rally from Balmatta Collector’s Gate around 11 a.m. Rationalist Narendra Nayak, Baliga’s sisters Usha Shenoy and Asha Baliga and his classmates too joined the march. As they reached the Kadri-Shivabagh Junction, the police stopped them and took them to custody. They were taken to the Manguluru East police station and released around noon.
DYFI State president Muneer Katipalla said that the State government was using force to suppress the agitation demanding the arrest of Shenoy, who had been at large since March 21. He said they would not budge and continue to fight till all the accused involved in the case were arrested.
Ms. Shenoy said that Mr. Lobo had promised justice to the family members of Baliga when he met them a day after the murder. Though the police arrested five persons, there was inordinate delay in arrest of Mr. Shenoy.
“Without arrest of all persons involved in our brother’s murder, we cannot get justice. Today we wanted to hear our MLA about this delay. But we have not been allowed by the police,” she said.
Hearing adjourned
Meanwhile, a single judge of the Karnataka High Court adjourned till Tuesday the hearing on Mr. Shenoy’s application seeking anticipatory bail. His application had come up for hearing before Justice K.N. Phaneendra.
