The Karnataka Police have booked Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Kallada Prabhakar Bhat for allegedly making inflammatory remarks at a condolence meet in the Dakshina Kannada district, The Indian Express reported on Monday.

The alleged remarks were made on May 12 in Kavalapadur village in Bantwal during a memorial for Suhas Shetty, a Bajrang Dal member with criminal background and the prime accused in the 2022 murder of a 23-year-old man named Mohammed Fazil, the newspaper reported.

Shetty was reportedly killed within Mangaluru city limits on May 1.

Bhat, addressing a crowd of around 500 people in Dakshina Kannada on May 12, made remarks that could disturb communal harmony, the police said.

The Bantwal Rural Police have registered a case against Bhat for statements conducing to public mischief under Section 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Deccan Herald reported.

Fazil was killed on July 26, 2022, two days after Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha district secretary for Dakshina Kannada Praveen Nettaru was hacked to death by two unidentified bike-borne assailants in Bellare village.

BJP leader booked for comments against Muslims

In Karnataka’s Kalaburgi district, the police booked Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manikanta Rathod for allegedly making inflammatory remarks against the Muslim community, The Hindu reported on Sunday.

A complaint was filed against the leader for his comments that called for uprooting Muslim community and instigating enmity between communities of different faiths, the newspaper said.

A video of his speech purportedly went viral. Based on the complaint and the viral video, a case was registered against Rathod at the CEN Crime Police Station in Kalaburgi, The Hindu reported.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader has been booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita pertaining to promoting enmity between different groups, imputations or assertions prejudicial to national integration, outraging the religious feelings, statements conducing to public mischief and criminal intimidation.