By IANS,
Bangalore : Pramod Mutalik, founder-president of Sri Rama Sene, whose activists assaulted women in a Mangalore pub Saturday, was arrested Tuesday. The arrest, however, was for an old case of inciting communal disharmony.
Mutalik was detained in Belgaum in north Karnataka.
“Yes, we have arrested him in connection with a case pending against him in Davangere (a district in central Karnataka),” Sonia Narang, Belgaum police superintendent, told IANS by telephone.
Asked why he was not detained for the Mangalore attack, Narang said: “We do not have any request from Mangalore. Once we get it, we will detain him (on that count).”
Since the case against Mutalik is registered in Davangere, he will be handed over to the police there, she said.
Mutalik was away in Maharashtra when a group of 40 people bashed up young women in a Mangalore pub. Sri Rama Sena claimed responsibility for the attack.
Its Karnataka vice-president Prasad Attavara and 26 others have been arrested for the Mangalore attack.
Mutalik has defended the attack in interviews to the media. But he also apologised to the victims.