Bommai Hinted At Establishing NIA Office In Mangaluru

On Friday, the Chief Minister went to Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts to assess the situation in

Covid-19 before returning to Bengaluru.

He said that in the upcoming days, they will sit down and make a decision as a group. There are things that will not be revealed at times, but will take the required actions in the future.

However, several right-wing organisations, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal, have called for a National Investigation Agency (NIA) branch in Mangaluru to combat the terrorist operations.

While the NIA sleuths recently apprehended a young man from Ullal, near Mangaluru, in connection with a terror funding investigation. Right-wing groups staged a protest in front of the arrested teen's home, which is owned by a former MLA's grandson. They had also attempted to gherao the residence and emphasised the importance of establishing an NIA office in the city.

Shobha Karandlaje, the MP for Udupi-Chikkamagaluru, had written to the Union Home Ministry about the matter. P C Mohan, a Bengaluru Central MP, has also requested the establishment of an NIA office, citing the delicacy of the coastal region in Karnataka, as well as the frequent violent protests in Mangaluru and the discovery of a live bomb at Mangalore International Airport. While the former Chief G Kishan Reddy, the formerly Minister of State for Home, indicated in a letter response to P C Mohan in 2020 that they have no such intentions because Karnataka is under the jurisdiction of the NIA's Hyderabad branch office and the agency has a camp office in Bengaluru that also includes Mangaluru.