Leaders of Hindutva organizations present a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Sangappa during the Bagalkot Chalo on Thursday. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Hindutva organizations organized a Bagalkot Chalo rally in Bagalkot on Thursday to protest against the recent stone pelting incident in the city.
They submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Sangappa, who visited the site of the protest.
Among the various demands of the speakers was the permanent closure of the Panka Masjid, with miscreants sitting inside the mosque pelting stones at policemen during the Shivaji Jayanti procession.
They said the stone pelting was a conspiracy and was aimed at insulting the Shivaji Jayanti procession on February 19.
They also said that the Panka Mosque has been a point of contention for several decades. This led to several breaches of law and order. They demanded that the mosque be permanently closed, its officials and preachers arrested and punished.
They threatened to tear it down if it wasn’t closed.
The leaders said that the process of constructing mosques without proper permission is going on in the entire district and the officers are keeping quiet about it.
“The state government and district administration officials should not allow any new mosque in the city,” they said.
The leaders said that the district police failed to maintain law and order and did not take proper legal action against the accused. Police remain silent even as one of the stones hit Superintendent of Police Siddarth Goel. They said that if all the accused were not arrested immediately, another procession would be taken out in the city.
Strict police security measures were taken in the city, with special action forces and other police units from elsewhere deployed. Prohibitory orders will continue in most parts of the old city until Saturday.
Published – 26 Feb 2026 21:18 IST
