The BJP on Monday accused the Congress government in Karnataka of providing VVIP facilities to an alleged ISIS recruiter and other inmates in state jails and demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Home Minister G Parameshwara.
This came after some undated videos surfaced on social media purportedly showing prison inmates using mobile phones, watching television and even partying inside the prisons.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, party national spokesperson Shezaad Poonawalla showed a video footage in which alleged ISIS recruiter Juhad Hameed Shakeel Manna is seen using a mobile phone inside the jail, and accused the Congress of giving patronage to him.
"We nab terrorists and when they are sent to jail, the Congress provides VVIP facilities so that they can freely execute their terror plans and recruit more people," he charged.
This is the difference between the NDA government and the Congress rule, Poonwalla said.
"On the one hand, the country's security agencies and the government are seriously engaged in foiling terrorists' nefarious plan and arresting them, while on the other hand, biriyani, mobile phone and VVIP service is being provided to terrorists in Karnataka jail," he charged, adding the Congress has always been "soft on terror".
The BJP spokesperson accused the Congress of giving protection to jailed terrorists and other inmates, and demanded that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and state Home Minister Parameshwara immediately resign to allow an independent probe into the matter.
He also took on Congress central leadership and Rahul Gandhi, saying, "You are trying to bring back jungle raj in Bihar while you have already established 'jungle raj' in Karnataka." "Will you seek accountability from the Karnataka Chief Minister and Home Minister Parameshwara, and demand their resignation?" the BJP spokesperson asked Gandhi.
The Karnataka home minister on Monday said the state government has taken serious note of reports about illegal activities in state prisons and warned that such lapses will not be tolerated.
Parameshwar's statement came amid public outrage following recent media reports, which include videos purportedly showing inmates having access to banned items like ganja, liquor, mobile phones, and television inside their barracks at Bengaluru Central Prison.
"The media has reported illegal activities in the jails of the state. We have taken it very seriously. The government will not tolerate it at any cost," he told reporters ahead of a review meeting.
Holding the prison authorities accountable, Parameshwara said, "All the officers concerned and the head of the prisons are responsible... it is their duty to manage it properly." Poonwalla said such empty talks by the minister can not address the "deteriorating" law-and-order situation and a series of "corruption" in Karnataka under the Congress rule.
He said both Siddaramiah and Parameswara must resign to allow an impartial and independent probe into the matter.
"Because, without their nexus -- the Congress' active support and the state government's collusion -- terrorists, rapists and criminals cannot get VVIP service and treatment inside prison," Poonawalla added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
