The arrest of Mohammad Nalapad, son of Shantinagar MLA NA Haris, for assaulting a 25-year-old man in a Bengaluru café, led to chaos in the Karnataka Assembly on Tuesday, 20 February.
An Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court in Bengaluru had sent Nalapad Haris and six of his associates to two days of police custody on 19 February.
The Karnataka BJP, led by senior leader Jagadish Shettar, demanded the resignation of MLA NA Haris. Although Haris was present in the Assembly, it was Bengaluru Development Minister KJ George, who got into a verbal duel with Shettar over the controversy. The argument, however, was in incoherent.
The BJP leaders were pacified by the speaker assuring them time to raise the matter.
Meanwhile, the supervising officer of the Nalapad assault case, Chandragupta, DCP (central), addressed the media and said that the investigation will be impartial and no political influence will be allowed.
“The perceptions of the accused’s influential background affecting the case are baseless. As long as we are investigating the case, we will not allow anyone to influence the case. It is a 150-year-old department and people will have their opinions about it. However, we will do our job,” said Chandragupta.
Answering questions on allegations of Mohammad Nalapad’s involvement in other cases, which went unreported in the past, the officer said that the police will accept and investigate any complaint against Nalapad that emerges following his arrest.
When asked whether Nalapad will be included in rowdy sheet (record of habitual offender), if more cases are registered against him, the DCP said, “definitely”.
The officer, however, added that this was first time a case has been registered against Nalapad.
Justifying the delay in registering attempt to murder cases Nalapad, the DCP said that although the case was not registered initially, based on the evidence emerged during the investigation, a request was made to the court and the section 307 (attempt to murder) was added to the charges against Nalapad.
(This is a developing story)
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