BJP MP Pratap Simha taken into preventive custody

BJP MP Pratap Simha was on Sunday taken into preventive custody at Hunsur near Mysuru ahead of the Hanuman Jayanthi procession, police said.

Police had made elaborate security arrangements in Hunsur on account of Eid Milad and the procession, which, according to them, has a history of disturbance to peace in the region associated with it.

Prohibitory orders are also in place, police said. The district administration had permitted the organisers to take out the procession on a specified route, and informed those required, including public representatives, about it, they said.

However, the organisers along with Simha had demanded some changes in the route and despite appeals by police against it, they planned to go ahead, officials said., Simha along some other persons have been taken into custody as a preventive measure, they said.

On the other hand, the Lok Sabha MP hit out at the Congress government in the state. Speaking to reporters at Hunsur, Simha alleged that despite requests made to the administration and the IG seeking permission to begin the procession from a particular place and assuring them about following restrictions put in place, "police are stopping us."

PTI