N Muthappa Rai, the flamboyant gangster-turned-Kannada activist, sought to intimidate his rivals with a display of lethal weapons during an Ayudha Puja event but instead attracted police attention.
A video that went viral on Thursday shows Rai offering 'puja' to guns, rifles, revolvers, longs and machetes. The video was first uploaded to Facebook and was later shared widely on WhatsApp.
The Central Crime Branch (CCB) wasn't amused. The assistant commissioner of police (ACP) of the CCB's Organised Crime Wing has sent a notice to the founder-president of Jaya Karnataka, seeking an explanation with documentary proof for the weapons shown in the video.
"We have issued him a notice asking why action should not be taken against him for the display of weapons," Alok Kumar, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime), said. Rai has not yet responded to the notice, a source said.
Another senior police officer suggested that the motive behind the display of the weapons would be to induce fear in the general public and that such an act is punishable under the Arms Act.