Protests in Bengaluru after RSS worker is hacked to death by two motorcycle-borne assailants

Dozens of workers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday staged protests in Bengaluru following the murder of an RSS worker. The BJP has called for statewide demonstrations after R Rudresh was hacked to death by two motorcycle-borne assailants near Commercial Street on Sunday, NDTV reported. The party has demanded the perpetrator's arrest at the earliest.

Protestors were stopped from marching towards the office of Police Commissioner NS Megharik in central Bengaluru, as their agitation led to traffic congestion during peak office hours at Cunningham Road, Queens Road and nearby areas. Megharik is expected to meet the agitators at the Indian Express Circle, where their march was stopped.

Police have imposed prohibitory orders in Frazer Town, Commercial Street, Bharathi Nagar and Shivajinagar, where Rudresh lived. Rapid Action Force personnel and the Karnataka reserve police have been deployed to maintain order.

Rudresh was killed on Kamaraja Road on his way home from attending an RSS meeting in the area. Police said the assailants managed to escape even though they were chased down by witnesses, PTI reported.

While police believe the murder was a case of personal rivalry, RSS Bengaluru spokesperson Rajesh Padmar claimed that it was part of a series of attempts to "eliminate" workers from the organisation. "Such an attempt was made also against an RSS worker some time ago here," he said.

Police said they have registered a case, NDTV reported. Additional Commissioner of Bengaluru Police (East) P Harishekaran said, "We are working on specific leads and are hopeful of arresting the culprits." No arrests have been made so far.

Former chief minister and state Bharatiya Janata Party president BS Yeddyurappa said the incident reflected the poor law-and-order situation in Karnataka. He said the government must prove its "seriousness, sincerity and will" in catching the murderers, alleging that in the previous attacks against two RSS workers, the perpetrators had been released on bail within a few hours.

According to The Times of India, Rudresh was also the secretary of the BJP for the Shivajinagar locality. He was taken to Bowring Hospital immediately, but doctors declared him brought dead. On Sunday evening, RSS workers protested in front of Commercial Road Police Station, demanding the two assailants' arrest, and later moved their agitation to the site of the murder.

In a separate incident, a BJP leader from Talegaon, Maharashtra was killed by a group of nearly a dozen people on Sunday. Sachin Shelke was 39 years old. The police said the motive behind the attack was unclear.