Bengaluru: A minute after Tuesday midnight, Anantkumar Hegde, the firebrand Union minister from Karnataka, startled the citizens of the poll-bound state with his tweet alleging an attempt on his life.
“A deliberate attempt on my life seems to have been executed just now. A truck on NH, near Halageri in Ranebennur taluk of Haveri district has hit my escort vehicle which tried to hit my vehicle in the first instance. Since our vehicle was in top speed we escaped the hit (sic),” he said.
A deliberate attempt on my life seems to have been executed just now. A truck on NH, near Halageri in Ranebennur taluk of Haveri district has hit my escort vehicle which tried to hit my vehicle in the first instance. Since our vehicle was in top speed we escaped the hit. pic.twitter.com/2w8zzq26UU— Anantkumar Hegde (@AnantkumarH) April 17, 2018
He went on to post pictures of the truck, which showed the registration number as KA 18 A 8733 and sported the label 'Sri Shakti Ganapathi’. He also posted pictures of the police escort vehicle that was hit, and went on to say that the truck was driving in the wrong direction and stepped up the speed when his convoy approached.
However our support staff in the escort vehicle has suffered severe injuries in the form of shoulder fracture. pic.twitter.com/aMm16rNo9r— Anantkumar Hegde (@AnantkumarH) April 17, 2018
The vehicle had been driven in the wrong direction and was parked right in the road horizontally. As soon as our convoy approached he has driven in great speed and had tried hitting our car. As our car was running in good speed we passed away before he could ram us. pic.twitter.com/JRQ1vd7TyY— Anantkumar Hegde (@AnantkumarH) April 17, 2018
He went on to post pictures of the hapless truck driver, particularly mentioning his name Nasir and wanted the police to probe and expose the 'bigger nexus behind the incident”.
But unfortunately, our escort vehicle running behind us got hit and one of our staff has been injured seriously with shoulder fracture. The driver named Naser has been caught hold by the localites and seems to be normal without any alcholic hangover. pic.twitter.com/2LJIHVVBLw— Anantkumar Hegde (@AnantkumarH) April 17, 2018
I urge the police to take the case seriously in spilling the truth out from this guy named Nasir. There might be a bigger nexus behind this incident and am sure Police would expose all of them. pic.twitter.com/CXQuEZKMqD— Anantkumar Hegde (@AnantkumarH) April 17, 2018
While an attempt on the life of a Union Minister is a serious affair, the local police said prima facie there was nothing to indicate the same. "The driver was reversing his vehicle in Halageri on a bypass road. He had missed a turn and started reversing. While doing so, he hit the police escort vehicle."
Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy said due investigation would be done given the serious nature of the allegation, while Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ridiculed Hegde's conspiracy theories.
"Accidents happen because of negligence or overspeeding or such factors. There are many in the BJP who have a criminal bent of mind, and it is to them that such thoughts (of a conspiracy to murder) come," he told reporters in Mysore.
Hegde was unconvinced and many of his fellow MPs and MLAs from the BJP also tweeted in his support, saying they condemn the “attempt to kill him”.
A few hours later, the story turned on its head.
Investigation revealed that the truck in question was owned by one Nagesh, a resident of Koppa in Chikmagalur. Nagesh turned out to be the brother of Ramesh, the block president of the BJP in Koppa taluk.
As this detail came to light, Hegde called off a press conference he had scheduled for Wednesday evening. No reason was given to mediapersons who had been invited to the press meet, but the decision could be an apparent consequence of this.
The drama unfolded in the middle of hectic campaigning for the May 12 Assembly elections in the state, which has been key parties trade charges of “political killings” in the run-up to the polls.
Comments
0 comment