Doddipalya Narasimha Murthy

Journalist, Entrepreneur and Human Rights Defender

Karnataka

HRDA has issued an urgent appeal to the National Human Rights Commission of India on November 28, 2019 regarding the arrest of eminent The Sunday Indian journalist, thinker, entrepreneur and social activist Mr. Doddipalya Narasimha Murthy in a false case. Mr. Murthy has been involved in public movements in Karnataka, for the last 20-25 years such as against Bengaluru Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) since 1992. He is the General Secretary of Swaraj India - Karnataka and the Secretary of Gauri Media Trust which was started after the death of Gauri Lankesh in September 2017.

According to sources, on October 24, 2019, Mr. Murthy was in Raichur district of Karnataka to attend a seminar on ‘Alternative Media’ organised by the “Gauri Lankesh Balaga’ (Gauri Lankesh Fraternity), from where he was picked by police at around 2.20 PM and questioned for hours at a traffic police station. The police were unable to provide the media gathered there any information on his arrest and Mr. Murthy was later shifted to the Raichur Rural Police station in the Superintendent of Police (SP) office compound for further questioning.

On October 25, 2019, a press briefing was addressed by the SP Mr. Veda Murthy and Dy SP Mr. Sheelavantar where it was claimed that from 1990 to 2000, a person named Vinod was working underground in Karnataka Raithu Kooli Sangha (Karnataka Farm Labour Organisation) who was allegedly a Naxalite with a warrant pending against him. But, he was never arrested and it only came to police’s information through an anonymous tip, a day ago, that Mr. Murthy was the person who was known as Vinod earlier, absconding for the last 25 years with multiple names  and wanted in several cases in Raichur. A complaint by police under Criminal Misc No: 1125, 1227, 1228 and 1229, was registered, in which all other named accused have been acquitted. Mr. Murthy has denied all the allegations made by the police and stated that all the cases filed against him are false and fabricated.