Bengaluru, 29 May

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Thursday said that four people have been arrested in connection with the murder of a 32-year-old muslim man in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada district and further action will follow based on information gathered from them.

He said that the government has taken the killing very seriously and that it will not rest unless it suppresses such communal activities and murders.

The home minister also said that government order has been issued with regard to forming anti-communal force with immediate effect.

"Four people have been arrested after the murder, and based on their statements we have got some serious information, using which further investigation and action will follow," Parameshwara said.

Stating that the government has taken the incident in Dakshina Kannada district very seriously, he said, "we will take merciless action irrespective of whoever it is, because if such things keep happening every time, we cannot sit quietly with our eyes shut. We will make the law stricter without any mercy."

Speaking to reporters after meeting Dakshina Kannada district in-charge Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, the home minister said, the region consisting Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Shivamogga and other places with communal activities will be considered as "sensitive", and merciless action will be taken against those involved in such activities.

"We will not rest unless we suppress such communal activities and murders."

Stating that the atmosphere got spoiled there, he further said, "If one side carries out murder, the other retaliates, such things repeat. If there is such a feeling of hate, how can the society survive, can anyone lead life? The government will not sit quietly as a mute spectator, we will stop it."

The victim Abdul Rahiman and his 29 year-old co-worker Kalandar Shafi were unloading gravel when two motorcycle-borne youth made a murderous assault on them with a sword on Tuesday.

While Rahiman succumbed to his injuries, Shafi is undergoing treatment.

Rahiman's murder comes close on the heels of Suhas Shetty's killing on 1 May in the communally sensitive Dakshina Kannada district.