A joint team of the Bengaluru police and the Kalaburagi police Thursday nabbed a 40-year-old man in Maharashtra for allegedly issuing threats to Congress minister Priyank Kharge for suggesting that RSS activities be banned in government premises in Karnataka.
The accused has been identified as Dinesh Naroni, a resident of Solapur in Maharashtra. Recently, Kharge had posted a video where the caller was heard abusing him. The Karnataka Police have booked a case against Naroni and will bring him to Bengaluru by Friday morning.
Describing the threats as an “organised conspiracy” against him, Kharge said such tactics will not cow him down. In a post on X, the Karnataka minister said his phone hasn’t stopped ringing after it was reported that he wrote to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah requesting him to ban RSS activities on government premises in the state.
The police said Naroni worked as a sales executive in a chocolate firm and resided with his family in Solapur. “After Priyank Kharge posted the video and said that he would initiate legal action, Dinesh fled to Latur, 120km away from Solapur. We arrested him based on the technical evidence we had,” said a police officer.
Naroni has purportedly claimed to be a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The police said Naroni told them that he saw the news of Kharge’s letter to the Karnataka chief minister and called him over the phone under the influence of alcohol.
In a letter dated October 4, Kharge had urged the Karnataka CM to prohibit RSS activities on public grounds, and premises of government and aided educational institutions, Muzrai temples, and other government land. The cabinet on Thursday decided to bring in rules to check RSS activities in government premises.
