Bajrang Dal leader Bhuvith Shetty who had tweeted welcoming the death of the MM Kalburgi has been arrested by the Mangalore Rural Police, ANI reported. Shetty had written in the tweet: "Then it was UR Ananthamurthy and now MM Kalburgi. Mock Hinduism and die dogs (sic.) death. And dear KS Bhagwan you are next."
Responding to the tweet from Bajrang Dal co-convener Bhuvith Shetty, KS Bhagwan said, "I got to know through the press, I feel sorry for such persons. At this juncture, I request the government to view this matter very seriously and round up the miscreants and take suitable action."
"Kalburgi was a great scholar of Karnataka, he used to say to me that we sail in the same boat," ANI quoted the writer as saying.
Meanwhile a CID probe has been ordered by the Karnataka CM. "We have decided to hand over the case to CID.... This incident should not have happened. It is highly condemnable," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters here, a day after Kalaburgi was shot dead at point-blank range by two unidentified men.
77-year-old Kalburgi was an associate of rationalist Govind Pansare of Kolhapur in Maharashtra, who also fell victim in similar circumstances in February, and had drawn the ire of some right-wing Hindu outfits like VHP and Bajrang Dal with his remarks about idol worship by Hindus.
He had often spoken against superstitions and courted controversies with his outspoken stand. At Dharwad this morning, hundreds of admirers of Kalburgi paid last respects to him. The funeral will take place later in the day today. Yesterday, the attackers had knocked at the door of Kalburgi's house claiming to be his students and as it was opened, they pumped bullets into his forehead and chest and fled. He died in a hospital.
"Whoever is behind this, we will catch them and punish according to law," said the Chief Minister, who visited Dharwad to pay last respects to Kalburgi. Asked if the sleuths have got any clues, Home Minister K J George said the probe was being started. "It will be investigated from all angles."
Kalburgi was a winner of central and state "Sahitya Akademi" awards, he had also suggested the need for a better state anthem. Part of his works on "Vachana"(verses)" literature had also come under criticism of the state's majority "veerashaiva" (Lingayat) community, a liberal Shaivism founded by 12th century philosopher, poet and social reformer
