Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel has warned that if the police arrest Belthangady MLA Harish Poonja, they will call for a Dakshina Kannada district Bandh.Â
Two FIRs have been lodged against MLA Poonja for allegedly threatening cops and staging a protest without permission.
Kateel condemned the police’s action of registering FIRs against the MLA, stating that it’s natural for an MLA to take part in an agitation against injustice. He was protesting against the arrest of an innocent. However, the Siddaramaiah government registered a case against him and is engaging in hate politics by doing so. Many such incidents have occurred in the state, he said.
Kateel alleged that the government is unable to digest the popularity of the MLA, hence they are trying to arrest him on minor issues. He questioned why the police, instead of serving the notice, immediately came to arrest him. These cases do not warrant arrest, he said.
 They could have waited for the MLA’s response after serving the notice, but it seems that the police are hellbent on arresting him, he said.
Kateel also alleged that the police are behaving beyond legal boundaries. It was the MLA who, respecting the law, received the notice, but he sought five days’ time to reply to it. If the police still pressurize him, they will be forced to stage protests across the district. The police should not succumb to any political pressure, said Kateel.
