IANS

Bangalore: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh arrived here late Monday on a scheduled visit and met state party leaders in the backdrop of the outcry over a pro-Hindu outfit assaulting young women in a pub in Mangalore two days ago.

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and state BJP chief D V Sadananda Gowda briefed him about the incident and the action police have taken against the attackers, party sources said.

Activists of the Sri Rama Sena abused, slapped and pulled the hair of some young women at a bar on Saturday for "violating traditional Indian values."

The girls were part of a group of young men and women who had gone to the pub ‘Amnesia - The Lounge’ on the busy Balmatta Road in the centre of Mangalore.

Mangalore police have arrested 17 people so far and are searching for at least four more, including Dinakar Shetty, a leader of Sri Rama Sena. Shetty, who had told the media that Sena members had attacked the pub for allowing "obscene dancing." He had justified the attack on the ground of "preserving traditional Indian values."

The BJP maintains it has no connection with the group.

"We have no connection with that organisation," state BJP spokesperson C T Ravi said.

Asked whether the Mangalore incident was discussed by Rajnath Singh and state BJP leaders, Ravi said, "No. It is a law and order problem and the police are dealing with it."

On the impact of the incident on the BJP's image, he maintained, "it will not have any (impact) as we do not have any connection with the Sena."