Assured Of Action, RSS Calls Off Bengaluru Protest Over Activist Murder

Protesters who had been stopped by the Bengaluru police near the Indian Express circle have agreed to call off their protest after the police assured them of action.

The BJP, Karnataka's main opposition party has called for state-wide protests against the RSS activist's killing, demanding that his attackers be arrested at the earliest.

Traffic has been hit in central Bengaluru during peak office hours on Monday morning, with jams reported at Queens Road, Cunningham Road, and surrounding areas.

Prohibitory orders were issued in the Shivajinagar area, where Mr Rudresh, 35,  lived and led an RSS unit. The police have banned large gatherings.

Personnel from the anti-riot Rapid Action Force and the state reserve police were also deployed to prevent trouble.

Around noon on Sunday, two unidentified men on a motorbike hacked Rudresh R to death with machetes near a busy shopping complex on Commercial Street. He was returning from an RSS meeting when he was attacked.

The men knocked Mr Rudresh off his bike, attacked him and then escaped. The RSS leader was rushed to the Bowring hospital nearby in an autorickshaw, but had died by then.

Five police teams are looking for the attackers, who rode a black Pulsar bike and had their faces covered with helmet visors.

The police said they are investigating all possible motives for the murder, including personal rivalry. "We are working on specific leads, we are hopeful of arresting the culprits", said P Harishekaran, Additional Commissioner of Bengaluru Police (East).

Mr Rudresh was a construction contractor. He is survived by his wife and two children.