Bengaluru police arrested Hindutva activist and murder accused Puneet Kerehalli and his associate late Friday night following a complaint of harassment, threats, and communal intimidation by a landlord in south Bengaluru. The arrest was carried out by Bannerghatta police amid heavy deployment to prevent any law-and-order disturbance.
Puneet Kerehalli, 34, heads the Hindutva outfit Rashtra Rakshana Pade and is an accused in the April 2023 murder of cattle trader Idrees Pasha. He was arrested along with Dr Nagendrappa, 38, after Siddesh K, a resident of Doggathogur, lodged a complaint alleging intimidation and criminal trespass.
According to the complaint, Siddesh was alerted by his uncle Mallikarjun on the night of January 12 about a disturbance at his rented property near Sai Brindavana Layout in S Bingipura village. When Siddesh reached the premises shortly after midnight, Kerehalli, Nagendrappa, and others were allegedly arguing with tenants, accusing them of being “Bangladeshi migrants.”
Siddesh stated that when he intervened, the accused questioned why he had rented the property to “Bangladeshis,” abused him, and threatened to kill him. He clarified that the tenants’ Aadhaar cards were verified and registered in Karnataka, but the threats allegedly continued.
Police arrived around 1 am and took the tenants to the station. Siddesh later filed a formal complaint, following which police registered a case under Sections 126(2), 3(5), 329(3), 351(2), 351(3), and 352 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The Campaign Against Hate Speech had earlier urged Karnataka’s top police officials to act against Kerehalli for vigilante actions, including forcibly entering homes, intimidating migrant workers, and illegally checking Aadhaar cards. Activists noted that matters of undocumented migration fall under statutory authorities, not private individuals.
