Karnataka: Sri Ram Sene member held for poisoning children to get Muslim headmaster transferred

The police in Karnataka’s Belagavi district on Saturday alleged that a member of Hindutva organisation Sri Ram Sene orchestrated the poisoning of water in a government school so that the headmaster, who is a Muslim, would be transferred, The News Minute reported.

On July 14, at least 11 children at the Government Lower Primary School in the district’s Hoolikatte village fell ill after drinking water there. The headmaster of the school, Suleman Gorinaik, had filed a complaint with the district’s Soundatti police station, after which a case was registered.

Investigations revealed that a student from the school had poured a commonly-used insecticide into the water tank, The News Minute quoted the police as saying. The police alleged that a man named Krishna Madara got the child to pour the insecticide in the tank by giving him chocolates and money.

However, it was the Saundatti taluk president of the Sri Rama Sene, Sagara Patil, who orchestrated the crime, according to the police.

Belagavi Superintendent of Police Bhimshankar Guled was quoted as saying by The News Minute that Patil did so to target the headmaster and get him transferred.

Patil got Madara involved in the conspiracy by threatening to make his relationship with a woman from another community public if he did not co-operate, The Times of India reported.

The police have arrested Patil, Madara and...

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