The Rajasthan police has booked Manikanta Rathod, a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate in upcoming Karnataka assembly poll, and local BJP MLA Madan Dilawar with charges of murder and criminal intimidation for their remarks against Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, a senior officer said on Monday.
The FIR has been filed at Sanjay Circle Police Station in Jaipur on the complaint of Congress state secretary Ram Singh Kaswan.
According to Kotwali ACP Narendra Kumar, an FIR has been registered against BJP Ramganj Mandi MLA Madan Dilawar and Manikanta Rathod, a BJP contender in the upcoming Karnataka assembly election.
"As one of the accused, Madan Dilawar, is a sitting MLA, the matter will be investigated by the CB-CID," said Kumar, who is also the investigating officer in the case.
According to the FIR, the two men have been booked under IPC Section 302 (murder), 506 (criminal intimidation), and under sections of SC/ST Act.
Kaswan in his complaint said committing a crime is not necessary, even hatching a conspiracy is enough. Congress had on May 6 shared an audio purportedly of Manikanta Rathod, the BJP candidate from Chittapur constituency in Kalaburagi district, in which he was heard saying in Kannada that he will wipe out "Kharge, his wife, and children." -- PTI