By Louis Rodrigues –
Belagavi: Known for his offensive and inflammatory remarks, Pramod Mutalik of Sri Ram Sene (a right-wing Hindu group) has raked up another issue by threatening to set a church-run centre in Belagavi in India’s southern state of Karnataka on fire if police did not investigate the death of a liquor addict Santosh Naik at the centre in June 2019.
Mutalik was speaking to media persons in Belagavi on Monday after submitting a memorandum to the district administration to investigate the matters related to deaths of saffron activist Shivu Uppar and addict Santosh Naik, both of whom according to the police had committed suicide in separate incidents.
Based at Peeranwadi, the Hope Recovery Centre is run by Claratian priests and is engaged in rehabilitation of drug and liquor addicts irrespective of caste and creed. The Center has large number of patients including employees from various government departments and youth from Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The Center has rendered yeoman service in the successful rehabilitation of scores of drug and liquor addicts.
“I give an ultimatum of 15 days to authorities to investigate the suspected murder of Santosh Naik or else I will set the Church (Hope Recovery Centre) on fire,” Mutalik said in a highly provocative statement.
It may be recalled that Santosh Naik had committed suicide in a toilet inside the campus on June 18, 2019. A complaint was lodged and a post mortem revealed that it was a suicide. However, few days after the funeral, Naik’s mother had made allegations about the suspected murder and had lodged a complaint with the police to reinvestigate the case.
Fr Pradeep Correia, the director of Hope Centre, said the allegations by Mutalik and Naik’s family were baseless, misleading and false. “First of all, ours is a rehabilitation centre and not a church, where addicts are admitted by their respective families after stringently following all legal and mandatory norms.”
“We had lodged a complaint with the police immediately after the incident and I have cooperated with authorities ,” Fr Correia said.
Speaking to The Goan, police commissioner B S Lokeshkumar said investigations in the case are complete.
“I am aware of the case and we have made thorough investigations, hence there is no need of any further investigations. However, we will not allow anyone to take law in their hands and the miscreants would be dealt firmly,” he said.
Bangalore archbishop voices concern
Meanwhile, threats by Sri Ram Sene Chief Pramod Mutalik to set ablaze a church-run centre in Belagavi has attracted the ire of Christians in and around Belagavi. Many have demanded action initiated against Mutalik for tried to flare up religious sentiments.
Taking serious note of the issue, Archbishop of Bangalore Peter Machado said he was “deeply concerned” over the issue.
In the past, Sri Ram Sena received media attention for its acts of moral policing, including 2009 Mangalore pub attack, where its members attacked women and men for going to a pub. The group was founded in the late 1960s by Kalki Maharaj, the right-hand man of Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray, and also a former member of the Bajrang Dal and the Vishva Hindu Parishad.
Picture courtesy: Just Dial