The Karnataka Police on Wednesday registered a case against BJP MLA B P Harish for his defamatory remarks against Davanagere district’s Superintendent of Police, Uma Prashanth, by likening her to a ‘pomeranian dog’ loyal to the influential Congress leaders of the Shamanuru family.
The Harihar constituency MLA, during a press conference on Tuesday, accused the IPS officer of showing disrespect towards him at official meetings, while allegedly favouring the influential Shamanuru family of veteran Congress leader Shamanuru Shivashankarappa, who is an MLA.
Shivashankarappa’s son, S S Mallikarjun, is a Minister for Mines, Geology, and Horticulture in the Siddaramaiah-led government, and his daughter-in-law, Prabha Mallikarjun, is a Member of Parliament.
“When the Opposition MLAs come to the meeting, the Superintendent of Police does not even greet them. The Shamanuru family is known for arriving late. When the elected representatives from the Shamanuru family come, the officer waits and behaves like a pomeranian dog. She (Uma Prashanth) thinks that remaining in the shelter of a rich and influential family will help her. This is temporary and it will not last many days,” he had said during the press conference.
He also blamed that whenever he attends meetings as an MLA, she doesn’t acknowledge him properly.
The police registered a case at K T J Nagar police station under Sections 132 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), and 79 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult a woman’s modesty) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) based on Uma Prashanth’s complaint.
In response to the First Information Report (FIR) filed against him, Harish said in Bengaluru on Wednesday that he would not feel threatened. “I have respect for all the officers and women officers. But Minister Mallikarjun is using her like a pomeranian dog. Three cases have been filed against me in Davanagere, but I will not budge to these threats,” he said.