The Yadgir Police in Karnataka arrested four people for opening fire in public in the district’s Yargol village on Wednesday, 18 August.
The four, who are BJP workers, shot bullets into the air from country rifles, while welcoming Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers, New and Renewable Energy, Bhagwanth Khuba, to the BJP's 'Jan Ashirwad Yatra'.
The Yatra was launched on Tuesday, 17 August, to protest the early conclusion of the Parliament’s Monsoon Session.
The followers of BJP leaders – former ministers Baburao Chinchansur, Raju Gowda, and MLA Venkatreddy Mudnal – had gathered in Yargol village in large numbers.
The crowd flouted all COVID-19 guidelines, and even senior leaders seemed to be carried away by the celebrations of the Yatra, as seen in visuals that were shared on social media.
The crowd flashed country-made rifles with BJP flags tied to them as they welcomed the MoS. BJP leader Baburao Chinchansur was also seen holding a gun and encouraging the crowd to fire into the air.
However, MoS Khuba later denied that any shots had been fired, and claimed that the loud sound was due to firecrackers being burst.
Yadgir district police SP Vedmurthy had ordered the local police to file a first information report in the incident, and a complaint has been registered in the matter, a Deccan Herald report said.
Speaking to The News Minute (TNM), the inspector said that they have arrested four people – Sharanappa, Lingappa, Devappa, and Nanjappa – on charges of opening fire in public. However, their guns were licenced.
“We have arrested four people, who are BJP party workers, for open firing at the procession. The guns recovered from the four persons are single bore guns, which are usually used to scare off animals; they were all licensed weapons,” the inspector told TNM.
Newly-appointed Union ministers are taking out the 'Jan Ashirwad Yatra' in their respective states to seek people's blessings and to explain the works carried out by the Narendra Modi government.
As per the plan, all the 39 newly-inducted ministers in the Union Council of Ministers will carry out the Jan Ashirvad Yatra over three days in 19 states. Together, all the 39 ministers will cover 19,567 km, 212 Lok Sabha constituencies and 265 districts of the country.
(Published in arrangement with The News Minute)
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