Ram Sena chief arrested but not for Mangalore pub attack

New Delhi: Shri Ram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik was arrested on Tuesday in Belgaum, police said.

However, Muthalik was arrested for inciting communal violence in Davangiri district in Karnataka and not for the Mangalore pub attack.

According to the police, the Davangiri case had been pending for a long period.

Police officials said the arrest was coming as the state was under pressure to take action against Muthalik who had justified the action of his party’s activists in Mangalore.

Sri Ram Sena was founded by Pramod Muthalik, a former RSS member and Bajrang Dal chief.

Speaking with CNN-IBN from Maharashtra over the weekend, Muthalik had defended his organisation and said it was not a big issue and that the media was blowing it out of proportion.

“It’s a small incident and we were only working against obscenity in public. You are not talking about the issue, which is obscenity and inappropriate behaviour,” he said while speaking on the Mangalore pub attack.

Muthalik – who was also the Karnataka chief of the Shiv Sena but parted ways with them over the Belgaum border issue – also said Shri Ram Sena was a non-profit organisation and its objective was to “serve the society and prevent bad behaviour”.

Muthalik fielded candidates against the BJP in the 2008 Assembly elections but lost.

Sri Ram Sena is not new to controversy. In 2007, its cadres attacked the house of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's daughter Selvi at the height of protests on the Cauvery issue.

It was also allegedly involved in the attack on Churches. His name figures in failed bomb blasts in Hubli last year.

What happened at Mangalore

About 15 to 20 activists, reportedly belonging to Sri Ram Sene, had barged into a local pub in Mangalore on Saturday night and beat up women accusing them of behaving in an "obscene manner".

The activists arrested include district convenor Subash Padil, district vice-convenor Kishore and city convenor Ganesh.

However, there's no confirmation yet whether the BJP government in Karnataka would ban the organization for its act.