Mysuru jail warder arrested for recording ‘abusive’ video against Siddaramaiah

Mysuru jail warder arrested for abusive video against CM Siddaramaiah, sparking outrage among Congress workers in Karnataka.

A warder at the Mysuru Central Jail has been arrested for allegedly recording an “abusive” video against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and sharing it on social media.

Additional Superintendent of Police C. Mallik said the accused warder, Madhu Kumar, has been arrested by the Bettadapura police in Periyapatna in Mysuru district. He will be questioned and handed over to the jurisdictional police on Wednesday.

Earlier, Chief Superintendent of Mysuru Central Jail P.S. Ramesh said the warder had been suspended for his alleged misconduct. “He was suspended on Monday, pending departmental inquiry,” he said. The warder, an ex-army personnel, who is aged around 45, had joined the service in 2018. He had served for about four years after completing two years of training.

Meanwhile, the video sparked outrage among the Congress workers, who gathered outside the Mysuru jail premises on Tuesday and staged a protest.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson M. Lakshman, who led the protest, said the Congress workers had gathered to express their “hurt and anguish” over the “obscene language” the warder used against the Chief Minister.

Even though the jail authorities had suspended the warder for “misconduct”, Mr. Lakshman said it was not enough. An FIR should be registered against him, and he should be arrested forthwith, the spokesperson said.

In a letter addressed to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), Mysuru city, Mr. Lakshman said the warder had referred to Mr. Siddaramaiah’s warning to a police official in Belagavi recently before abusing the Chief Minister in the singular.