Congress MLA accused of assaulting two cops in bar

Bangalore, Jul 3: Two police constables were allegedly assaulted by a Congress MLA and his associates at a bar in the upmarket UB?City in the early hours of Wednesday when the policemen took objection to a party that was continuing past midnight.

According to a complaint filed with the police, Vijayanand Kashappanavar (42), MLA from Hungund constituency in Bagalkot district, and his aides assaulted constables Kiran Kumar and Prashanth Naik, attached to Cubbon Park Police station. The footage of the CCTV cameras at Skyye Bar show that the constables were assaulted by Kashappanavar and his men, a top police source said. Based on the complaint, a case of assault under Section 353 of IPC has been registered against the MLA and 10 others. The Cubbon Park inspector was allegedly threatened by the MLA against registering a case.

The two constables were alerted by their senior officers about the Skyye Bar being open even at 2 am. The duo rushed there and as per procedure started clicking photos of the people who were partying inside the bar, which was open beyond the stipulated hours.

Kashappanavar and his associates, who were at the bar, started hurling abuses at the constables before manhandling them.

Kashappanavar claimed that he had gone to the bar with his family to celebrate his birthday. He said that while he was having dinner, he noticed cops clicking photos and objected to it. He said he had not assaulted anyone and only told the cops that he would report the?incident to the home minister.

The two cops rushed back to the Cubbon Park Police station and filed a complaint against the MLA and his men. The police said that the staff at the bar stopped serving drinks at 11 pm but the MLA forced them to serve liquor till 2 am and did not let them close the outlet.

The bar employees informed their manager, who asked the MLA and his team to leave as the permissible time was over. But they did not listen to them, said police. It is said that three other Congress MLAs had also attended the party. A table was allegedly booked in the name of Somashekar Gowda, a rowdy sheeter, who enjoys political patronage.

A senior police official said, “CCTV footage are being examined and prima facia it shows the constables being assaulted. We will ensure that strict action is taken against the MLA. Incidents of politicians attacking the policemen are on the rise and this is the third such incident within a short span.” Recently, another Congress MLA, Byrathi Basavaraj, had allegedly slapped a traffic constable at Jeevanahalli junction after his car was stuck in a traffic jam.