Cases of rioting, storing arms illegally and preventing police from discharging their duty have also been registered against Sreeramulu and his supporters.
BANGALORE: Karnataka tourism minister B Sreeramulu, who on Wednesday accused chief minister H D Kumaraswamy of attempting to murder him, has been booked for the same charges and dacoity too.
“He has been booked for attempting to murder and dacoity. We have also booked cases against Janardhan Reddy and 100 others for the same," said Bellary superintendent of police Amrit Paul.
The cases have been booked in connection with a clash between activists of the Janata Dal (S) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at Bellary in north Karnataka on Tuesday night.
Cases of rioting, storing arms illegally and preventing police from discharging their duty have also been registered against Sreeramulu and his supporters.
After Tuesday's clash, senior leaders of both parties trading charges of attempted murder. The next day Sreeramulu told the media that the chief minister had hired a contract killer to murder him and his friend, G Janardhana Reddy, besides assaulting his supporters.
Late on Wednesday night, Bellary police raided a hideout of the minister and seized large quantities of spurious liquor, sarees and photographs of minister embossed on them.
The minister planned to woo voters with the material seized. The raid was conducted 48 hours before the local body elections. Strongly opposing the raid, Sreeramulu said the raid was misuse of official authority.
In his complaint, the minister also named the SP of Bellary. "The chief minister is trying to wipe out BJP's existence in my constituency. I will resign from my post to protest the high-handedness of the government," said Sreeramulu.
Bellary is a sensitive spot for Deve Gowda's family as Sreeramulu's friend and party colleague Janardhana Reddy had released the secret tapes, which showed Gowda accepting cash from iron ore exporters. Reddy was suspended by Kumaraswamy for his alleged involvement in illegal iron ore export in Bellary.
Dismissing the allegations made by the tourism minister, Kumaraswamy hit out at BJP for not disciplining their legislators "The BJP should not give room for such incidents if it wants to be in the government.
A BJP minister accuses me of conspiring murder and another of political vendetta. If this is how they behave now, imagine how they will conduct themselves when they come to power," he said.
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