Mangaluru: Members of the Udupi district unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a dharna in front of the Clock Tower here on Wednesday in protest against the murder of a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activist, Rudresh, in Bengaluru, three days ago, and the failure of the State government to bring the culprits to book.

Addressing the protesters, Mattar Ratnakar Hegde, president of the district unit of the BJP, said that over 10 activists of the Sangh Parivar had been killed or murdered in different parts of the State in the last three years since the Congress government came to power. But the government had done nothing to ensure their security.

“The whole aim of the government is to see that the youth did not join any organisation belonging to the Sangh Parivar,” he said.

Mr. Hegde said that the law and order situation had collapsed in the State as the crime rate had soared. Even officers in the Police Department were either resigning or committing suicide.

This showed the amount of pressure the State government was exerting on them. The government was using the police for its own ends, he added.

The State government had withdrawn many cases filed by the police against organisations such as Popular Front of India and Karnataka Forum for Dignity, which showed its hidden agenda. There was hardly any development in the city after the Congress came to power in the Udupi City Municipal Council, Mr. Hegde said.

K. Raghupati Bhat, former MLA, said that the death of Rudresh in Bengaluru reflected the law and order situation prevailing in the State.