VIDEO | BJP activist allegedly stripped, beaten by Karnataka police; but cops say...

BJP woman activist Sujata Handi (alias Vijayalakshmi) has alleged that she was stripped and assaulted by police personnel after she was taken into custody on Monday over a protest in the Keshwapur area of Karnataka's Hubbali district.

Despite videos of the incident circulating online, sparking widespread anger across the state, the Keshwapur police have presented another version of the incident contrasting Handi's version.

Handi, who had recently defected from Congress to the BJP, was reportedly arrested for playing a role in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) controversy in Karnataka.

Specifically, she was arrested on the basis of a complaint by Congress corporator Suvarna Kallakuntla over the deletion of Congress voters' names from the voter list, as per an Asianet Suvarna News report.

The report added that she was forcibly taken into a police bus when she resisted arrest, from where she was allegedly stripped and beaten—despite the presence of women police officers around her.

However, the Keshwapur police claimed that it was Sujatha who had assaulted the police personnel during the arrest.

“After being placed in a police vehicle, she removed her clothes. She bit a female police officer in the stomach and assaulted five other staff members. Several cases have been registered against her in the past as well," alleged Hubbali-Dharwad Police Commissioner N. Shashikumar.

Based on these allegations, the Keshwapur police have registered a case against the BJP worker on several charges, including assault and indecent behaviour.

Handi has been remanded in judicial custody based on this, and is currently lodged in a jail in Hubbali.

The police in Hubbali have also been placed on high alert as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is likely to visit the place as public ire simmers, following the incident.