Nearly 400 rowdies in northeastern Bengaluru have been booked in preventive cases that require them to furnish bonds of good behaviour. The action comes weeks before Karnataka goes to polls.
Among them is ‘Silent’ Sunil, 41, a history-sheeter accused of 17 serious crimes, including murder, kidnapping, extortion and dacoity. In recent weeks, Sunil has been spotted with BJP leaders and is reportedly an aspirant for the party’s ticket for the assembly election from Chamarajanagar.
Laxmi Prasad, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast), said the case against Sunil was a “preventive action”. “We register such cases every year. So far, we have filed 387 of them,” he told DH.
Sunil was called to the Amruthahalli police station and asked to furnish the bond. He’s a resident of the Amruthahalli locality in northern Bengaluru.
Popularly called security cases, the preventive action is taken under Section 110 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). It’s the first deterrence measure that police use against habitual offenders. Other measures include booking them under the stringent Goonda Act, which provides for one-year imprisonment without bail, and banishing them from the city.
The action against Sunil comes just over a week after police externed Nagaraj alias ‘Wilson Garden’ Naga, a history-sheeter named in 22 serious crimes. He can enter the Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts only after a year and under police supervision. Nagaraj, 33, has publicly identified himself with the BJP and reportedly lobbied for the Assembly election ticket.