Davangere, 10 Feb

An FIR has been registered against senior BJP leader and former Karnataka Minister KS Eshwarappa and a notice has also been served for his 'shoot the traitors' remark during an event here.

The case was registered by the Davangere Extension Police Station based on a complaint by Hanumanthappa (36), a resident of the area.

On Thursday, Eshwarappa at the event said: "I want to appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring a law to shoot the two traitors - D K Suresh and Vinay Kulkarni, who want South India to be a separate country."

Reacting to the FIR against him, Eshwarappa told reporters in Shivamogga that he was not scared of such FIRs. "I am not scared of 100 such FIRs against me on the principles related to nationalism and Hindutva,” Eshwarappa said.

The action was taken after Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Friday that legal action would be taken against the BJP leader for his statement. Siddaramaiah also wondered whether this was the language of a leader belonging to a national party.

Claiming that taxes collected from the southern states were being distributed to north India, Congress M P and brother of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister, D K Suresh said on February 1 that the southern states would be forced to demand a separate nation if the 'injustice' was not rectified.

Clarifying his brother's remark, DCM DK Shivakumar had said Suresh only spoke about the public perception.