Chikkamagaluru: In a chaotic standoff, Congress and BJP workers pelted stones at each other at Koppa due to a misinterpreted WhatsApp. The incident occurred on the night of Saturday, December 23.

Police personnel ‘laati charged’ the crowd to separate the workers of the two parties. Three persons, Itihas and Rakesh from BJP and Chetan from Congress, were injured in this incident. They were rushed to the government hospital – Koppa and treated.

Rakesh, a BJP activist, had sent a message through WhatsApp. It is said that Congress leaders misinterpreted this message and rushed to the BJP office at Koppa and forcibly brought out Rakesh and assaulted him. Rakesh has since filed a complaint of attempt to murder against Congress workers.

As soon as this information spread, hundreds of BJP activists rushed to the hospital and gathered in front of it. Congress workers too gathered at the spot. BJP workers then marched towards the police station at night when the Congress workers confronted them. Both sides were involved in rumble followed by from stone pelting.

Police personnel intervened at this juncture and resorted to canning and dispersing the crowd from there. BJP activists later held a protest in front of the police station, urging the arrest of Congress workers who were responsible for this incident.