Fearing 'spread' of coronavirus, JD(S) MLC and his son obstruct testing for journalists in their locality; booked

Bengaluru: JD(S) MLC KT Srikante Gowda, his son and three others were booked on Saturday for allegedly trying to obstruct a COVID-19 test organised for journalists at Mandya and man-handling media persons. Gowda, his son Krishik and the others strongly objected to conducting COVID-19 test at Ambedkar Bhavan near his residence at Mandya, during which journalists were allegedly manhandled, leading to chaos, police said. [caption id=“attachment_8300361” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] JDS MLC and locals protest against COVID-19 testing of journalists in Mandya. ANI[/caption] On the directive of the state government, the district administration, along with the Department of Information and Public Relations, had jointly organised the tests for journalists in the district. The MLC expressed fears that the virus may spread in the locality where his house located as swab samples were being collected there, police said. He also questioned why the venue was chosen. The JD(S) MLC and others allegedly abused the officials and personnel deployed there, which the journalists strongly objected to. This led to a minor scuffle, during which Krishik allegedly manhandled some journalists, police said. Click here for LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak Following this Krishik was detained. Police have registered an FIR against Gowda, his son and the the others under various sections of IPC and the Disaster Management Act-2005, officials said.