They also blackened the number plates of some vehicles.
The activists were heading towards Belagavi from Bengaluru to stage a massive protest opposing the visit of Maharashtra leaders to Belagavi.
#WATCH | Karnataka: Police detain workers of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, at Hire Bagewadi in Belagavi, after they pe… https://t.co/7e0xZn8XrY
— TOI Bengaluru (@TOIBengaluru) 1670317905000
A heavy police force was deployed at the toll plaza located on Pune-Bengaluru National Highway-4, to prevent the entry of KRV activists and Narayana Gowda into Belagavi. At the time, Heated arguments broke out between activists and police officers.
Speaking to the media persons, KRV chief Narayana Gowda strongly condemned the act of the police department.
“We were not going to Maharashtra to protest but to Belagavi which is a part and partial of Karnataka. Stopping us at the mid-way is unfair. Is this a police state?”, he questioned, adding he would talk to the home minister Araga Jnanendra in this regard.
“We had planned to send a strong message to Maharashtra which has been unnecessarily creating a disturbance in the border issue. We had planned to hoist a thousand flags at Belagavi, which was stopped by the police,” Gowda expressed his anger.
Deepak Gudaganatti, district president of KRV expressed dissatisfaction against the government by alleging that it’s a conspiracy to suppress the fight of Kannadigas using police power.
The government gives permission to Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) to organise Marathi Maha Melava and other functions against the state government, but suppresses the movements protecting the land, language and culture of Karnataka.
KRV leaders Mahadev Talawar, Rudragouda Patil, Mahesh Hattiholi, Ramesh Talawar and other activists were detained by the police.
