Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy found himself in a raging controversy Tuesday after he asked a police official to "shoot mercilessly" those who had killed a worker of his JDS in Mandya district, a stronghold of the party.
After a video of his telephone conversation with the official on Monday going viral, drawing condemnation from the BJP, Kumaraswamy, heading the JDS-Congress coalition government, sought to clarify, saying "it was an emotional outburst" and he did not mean it.
He said he acted in a fit of rage as he knew the victim, 50-year old H Prakash, a former zilla panchayat member.
"It is beyond my imagination that such a person can ever be killed. My words were only an emotional outburst, which I did not mean," he told reporters in Vijayapura Tuesday.
The Chief Minister's Office issued a statement saying the comments were an "emotional reaction" to the incident and not orders by Kumaraswamy.
The opposition BJP lashed out at Kumaraswamy over the issue and termed his "statement irresponsible and nonsense".
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In the video, Kumaraswamy was heard saying: "I don't know how you will handle it (the case).. because it was your responsibility. I am actually disappointed because it (the murder) brought a bad name. He (Prakash) was a good person.. There is no problem if you shoot such people mercilessly," he said alluding to the alleged killers.
"I am least bothered (about the consequences)," the chief minister had said.
Slamming Kumaraswamy, state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa "I never expected this from the chief minister. If he speaks like this, what will happen to the law and order situation? An irresponsible and nonsense statement by Kumaraswamy," told reporters here Tuesday.
Senior BJP leader and former minister Shobha Karandjale said it was a clear case of "anarchy and lawlessness".
Prakash was hacked to death allegedly by four men in Maddur town of Mandya district Monday evening, police said.
The assailants had stopped Prakash's car when he was going home and hacked him to death with machetes.
Tension prevailed in Maddur and Mandya after the incident as people 'gheraoed' the police station demanding immediate arrest of the culprits.
After the chief minister got the news about the killing, he vented out his anger on a senior police officer of the district over phone, a video of which went viral.
In the video, the chief minister is heard saying there were three murders in the past in Mandya before he came to Bengaluru and he was disappointed with the police.
The chief minister Tuesday also recalled there were two murders earlier in the locality and that he had asked the police to be careful as the accused in the crime were released on bail. ".. but no measures were taken. I think that police did not do their duty properly," he said.
He later visited Mandya and attended the funeral of Prakash.
Kumaraswamy expressed his grief and squarely blamed the police laxity for the killing.