By IANS,
Bangalore : A Mangalore court Monday granted bail to Karnataka Bajrang Dal convener Mahendra Kumar, arrested in connection with attacks on churches in the state, but he refused to be freed fearing arrest in a similar case in Chikmagalur district.
Kumar, arrested Sep 19 at Mangalore and charged with criminal conspiracy and promoting enmity on religious basis, was given bail on the condition he executes a bond for Rs.10,000 and provides a surety for the like amount.
“My client is not executing the bond as he fears he will be implicated in another false case against him in Balehonnur in Chikmagalur district,” his counsel P.P. Hegde told IANS on telephone from Mangalore.
A case has been filed against Kumar in Balehonnur in connection with “some incident” at a church in that area Sep 12. “My client was in Mangalore that day and since there is a possibility of him being arrested again, he is not accepting the bail,” Hegde said.
Kumar will move a court in Chikmagalur Tuesday seeking bail in that case also, he said.
Kumar was arrested following demands from National Commission for Minorities members and also Congress leaders who said they had seen him on TV channels owning responsibility for the Sep 14 attack on churches in Mangalore, the headquarters of the coastal Dakshina Kannada district.
The same day churches and prayer halls in the neighbouring Udupi and Chikmagalur districts had also come under attack.
Kumar has denied saying Bajrang Dal was behind the attacks.