Overview
- A Greater Bengaluru Authority assistant executive engineer was assaulted while supervising a footpath encroachment removal near Shivajinagar, and other GBA staff were pepper-sprayed during the confrontation.
- Police have secured multiple detentions in the case but reports differ on the count, and officials identified Basavaraj Pudukote, state president of Karnataka Sene, as the main accused who has not yet been arrested.
- Authorities said they will invoke serious charges including Section 307 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with attempt to murder, and the state minister ordered swift police action.
- The GBA Employees’ Association demanded immediate arrests and warned that staff across all five civic zones would suspend work if suspects are not held promptly, risking disruption of the ongoing clearance drive.
- The clearance effort is part of the court‑directed Safe Footpath campaign to remove street encroachments and has repeatedly provoked clashes between enforcement teams, vendor networks and pro‑Kannada groups in Bengaluru.