Karnataka

Five private vehicles loaded with saris seized

DAVANGERE: The Davangere police seized five private vehicles loaded with saris from a warehouse at Shekarappanagar here on Monday night.

Of the five vehicles seized, four are of people from Honnali and one of a person from Harpanahalli.

One of the vehicles was that of Honnali Taluk Panchayat president A.V. Hanumanthappa, a BJP leader and supporter of the former MLA of Honnali Renukacharya who is contesting the elections, the police said.

It had a lotus symbol painted on its rear, they said, adding that no vehicle could bear party symbols according to the guidelines of the Election Commission.

The police said that acting on a tip-off by a political leader, they had conducted a search in the warehouse where they found saris being loaded in vehicles. The consignment of saris had been sent from Surat in Maharashtra to a textile shop in Davangere. The shop owner had sold it to a person, the police said. The drivers of the vehicle have been taken into custody.

The managers of the textile shop and the warehouse said that the saris were being transported to Tiptur.

The police are planning to register cases against the textile shop and warehouse managers for trying to misguide them.

Meanwhile, Congress leaders D. Basavaraj, Dinesh Shetty and S.V. Ramachandra have alleged that saris were being transported to Honnali for distribution to voters, by the BJP.

They demanded that the EC conduct an inquiry and initiate action against the BJP leaders in Honnali.

M.B. Dyaberi, Deputy Commissioner of Davangere district and District Election Officer, has sent a team of officers to Kulumbi, based on a tip-off and raided two houses where saris were stocked.

He said that the saris had been seized and cases filed against the owners of the houses. It was non-cognisable offence, he said.

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