‘He wants to play politics’: Siddaramaiah slams Amit Shah’s remarks on Neha Hiremath murder

BAGALKOT: Reacting to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks that the Neha Hiremath murder is a ‘case of love jihad’, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said that Shah is saying this because he wants to “play politics” on the issue and questioned what has the Union Home Minister done for Manipur.

“Whatever he is saying is because of politics. We caught the accused immediately, we also spoke to the public prosecutor to seek stringent punishment for him. He is calling the incident love jihad because he wants to play politics…what has he done in Manipur”, Siddaramaiah said.

He further said that they have asked the Public Prosecutor to argue for stringent punishment for the accused. “The case is given to the CID. We have also spoken to the Public prosecutor to argue for stringent punishment for him, we have done everything we can”, he added.

Amit Shah, addressing a rally in Hubballi city, criticized the Congress and questioned their handling of the Neha Hiremath murder case. He also met the parents of Neha Hiremath, who was stabbed to death, in Hubballi.

Neha (21) was stabbed to death allegedly by her former classmate, Fayaz Khodunayak on April 18, at the campus of KLE Technological University in Hubballi Dharwad, where she was the first-year MCA student. Her father Niranjan Hiremath, is the Congress councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation.

The police arrested Fayaz within hours of the incident and produced him before a magistrate, who sent him to 14-day judicial custody. The CID took Fayaz’s custody and was later brought to Hubballi from Dharwad.

While police investigation suggests Neha and Fayaz were in a relationship, her family members have said that he was pestering her and that she had rejected his marriage proposal. The case also sparked protests across the country. BJP has attacked the Siddaramaiah government over the incident and has demanded a CBI probe.

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said that the government strongly condemns the murder of Neha Hiremath and the CID investigation has been expedited to punish the accused. “When I was CM earlier, I had handed over cases to the CBI. What moral right do they have to ask? Let them not indulge in politics with the case,” he said.

Earlier, Congress General Secretary and Karnataka-in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala also visited Neha Hiremath’s family and assured them of justice. (ANI)