Belagavi: Tensions prevailed in Belagavi district and at Kolhapur in Maharashtra on the issue of defacing of statues of Maratha Lion Shivaji and a portrait of 12th century reformer Basavanna.

The police made arrests, instances of burning Kannada flags were reported in Belagavi district and at Kolhapur in Maharashtra. According to villagers, a Kannada flag hoisted in front of the Gram Panchayat office at Halasi village in Khanapur taluk was allegedly burnt by some miscreants and a portrait of Basaveshwara on a wall of the Panchayat office was disfigured when no one was around.

On Monday morning, when the incident came to the notice of the villagers, they immediately informed the Nandgad police station.

With the help of the police, they later put up a new Kannada flag in front of the Gram Panchayat office and also cleaned the portrait. Halasi villagers have urged the police to arrest those responsible. The Nandgad police have registered a Suo motu case and are investigating further. Halasi village has a long history and was part of the Kadamba kingdom.

Political leaders in Maharashtra have continued to add fuel to the fire. A group of Congress workers allegedly burnt a Kannada flag in Kolhapur on Monday. Shouting slogans against the Karnataka government and condemning the defacement of the Shivaji statue in Bengaluru, the protesters first blackened a Kannada flag and burnt it. Last week, a group of Shiv Sena workers had burnt a Kannada flag in Maharashtra.

Karnataka former Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah visited Anagol in Belagavi on Monday where the statue of freedom fighter Sangolli Rayanna was desecrated. Speaking to the media persons, he said that the act is highly condemnable. The issue will be raised in the Assembly too,. He said Sangolli Rayanna does not belong to one particular community.

He fought against the British to protect our motherland and proudly sacrificed his life. Police have taken the necessary steps to replace the damaged statue. Now, they should immediately arrest those who were involved in insulting Sangolli Rayanna, he said. On Kannada organizations planning to protest against Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti, he said. Every organization has the right to protest. MES members are not law-abiding citizens. Law and order has collapsed in Belagavi. The state intelligence department is dead, said Siddaramaiah.