BENGALURU: Bengaluru police arrested self-proclaimed activist Punit Kerehalli and two of his associates for allegedly provoking communal tension by raising inflammatory slogans during an Eid Milad procession on KR Road in Basavanagudi on Wednesday evening.Three men from the procession were also arrested for allegedly assaulting Kerehalli and his associates, leaving one of them injured in the head.Besides Kerehalli, police arrested K Gopigowda, 26, and A Vinod Nayak, 24. From the other group, Akmal Pasha, J Aboobakar Siddiqui and A Syed Imran were arrested.Police also registered a separate case against Kerehalli and others on a complaint by a police officer for allegedly creating a public nuisance.Two juveniles who were part of the Eid procession were also arrested for allegedly attacking Kerehalli and his associates. They were produced before a juvenile court and sent to a juvenile home.Police said their investigation found that Kerehalli and his associates had allegedly disrupted the procession first.“Shouting slogans, they intercepted the Eid Milad procession. Provoked by the slogans and intervention, some youths objected to Kerehalli’s move. This was how the fight started,” said deputy commissioner of police, south division, Kona Vamshi Krishna.
