Siddaramaiah Govt Withdraws Old Hubballi Police Station Riots Case, Drops Criminal Charges

Bengaluru: Taking its appeasement politics forward, Congress has taken a major step in Karnataka as Siddaramaiah government has withdrawn the Old Hubballi Police Station Riots Case against several AIMIM leaders including Mohammed Arif. A Muslim mob had attacked the Old Hubballi Police Station and injured policemen in 2022.

Siddaramiah Govt Withdraws Old Hubballi Police Station Riots Case

The Karnataka government led by Siddaramaiah has withdrawn the Old Hubballi Police Station Riots Case against several AIMIM leaders including Mohammed Arif. These leaders were accused of leading a mob that attacked the police, threatened to storm the police station.

The Siddaramaiah government has made a decision to overrule the objections and drop the cases filed against the AIMIM leaders. The government has taken this step after the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, DY Shivakumar wrote to the government, requesting them to drop the case.

Criminal Charges Dropped, Law and Police Dept Raise Objections

The criminal case with attempt to murder, rioting and other serious charges against Arif and 138 others has been withdrawn by the state government.

However, the law department, police department and department of prosecution has raised objections to the case being dropped. The official Cabinet note also accepts that these departments were against the withdrawal of the case.

What is the Old Hubballi Police Station Riots Case?

A Muslim mob had gathered outside the Old Hubballi Police Station on the night of April 16, 2022 to protest against a derogatory social media post and later went on a rampage damaging police vehicles and public property.

Four policemen were injured in the stone pelting and rioting that took place. The police had to resort to lathi charge.