Hindu organisations and the BJP observed a bandh on Saturday, condemning police \”inaction\” for five days after a second-year Pre-University (PUC, Class 12) student went missing. Protesters suspect the involvement of a \”ganja gang\” in the missing case and have urged the police to take action against drug peddlers. Police have deployed two platoons of the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) and more than 500 police personnel to maintain law and order in the region. The student, Digant, disappeared on February 25 at 7 p.m. Earlier that day, he had collected his hall ticket for the board exams and later went to Anjaneya Vyayama Shale in the evening but never returned. The police have also visited Digant’s college in Mangaluru and gathered information from his teachers and classmates but no significant leads have been found. The protesters expressed outrage against the police for allegedly concluding that Digant had gone missing due to exam fear and warned that if the police failed to make a breakthrough within the next two days, they would launch a massive protest.
