Ram Sena chief arrested for Mangalore pub violence

The Mangalore police on Wednesday arrested Sri Ram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik in the Mangalore pub-assault case, hours after he got bail in another case in Davanagere.
Muthalik was taken into custody on Jan 27 for an inflammatory speech in Davangere. He got bail in the case but was re-arrested by the Mangalore police for pub-violence on January 24.
Police had requested the Davangere court to hand over Muthalik for interrogation, IGP (Western Range) A M Prasad told agencies here today.
He told a TV channel that the Davanagere police wil hand over Muthalik to Mangalore police which will interrogate him in connection with the pub-attack case. He said cases have been registered against the 27 others under criminal interrogation, trespass, molestation, criminal conspiracy. Charges will be fixed against Muthalik once he is questioned, Prasad added.
Earlier, all the 27 Sri Ram Sena workers in a local court, who have been arrested in connection with the attack on girls in a Mangalore pub.
The investigators believe that Muthalik’s custody will help police in obtaining more information about other prominent members of the organisation who are still at large.
All schools and colleges across Mangalore remained closed today and the students' community has started a signature campaign demanding stringent action against the culprits while expressing sympathy towards the victims.
Prior to Muthalik’s arrest, police also picked up the Sri Ram Sena vice president Prasad Attavar and 10 others in connection with the case.
However, Sri Ram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik later apologised for the attack on weekend revellers at a Mangalore pub, saying the way the right-wing group acted "was wrong" but insisted it was done to "save our mothers and daughters".
Muthalik also denied his affiliation with the BJP and said he was only working for Hindutva.
The BJP government in the state has earned sharp criticism for its insufficient and slow response to the shameful act.
In view of the increasing public pressure, BJP president also condemned the incident as an "unacceptable act of hooliganism".
Complicating things for the BJP government, the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Tuesday constituted a three member panel to probe the incident.