The image posted by Priyank Kharge on X, in which three men in RSS uniform are circled in green. Image: X/@PriyankKharge
Bengaluru: Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge has asked the RSS and the BJP to answer questions over the seizure of 44,250 live cartridges in Bihar and Haryana, saying reports and photographs allegedly show individuals implicated in the racket wearing RSS uniforms.
Kharge called the seizure “not an ordinary criminal case” but “a grave national security concern” that, he said, has exposed an interstate ammunition-smuggling network.
Subsequent development: BJP MP Tejasvi Surya and Girish Bharadwaj challenged Kharge’s use of the group photo on November 10, citing a fact-check that described the circulating image as AI-generated. A separate image comparison by Only Fact traced the scene to an earlier Instagram reel and reported that the viral version had been altered. Read the reactions and what the image comparison found.
He put five questions to the organisations. He asked whether the individuals shown in the photographs were RSS swayamsevaks, what positions they held and what their involvement and intent were. He asked where the 44,250 cartridges were headed and who the intended recipients were, including organised criminal networks or extremist groups.
Kharge also asked how government-manufactured ammunition entered the illegal market, citing reports that the seized cartridges bore markings associated with the Khadki ammunition factory in Pune, and who facilitated the diversion. He asked why the BJP and RSS were silent, saying the BJP “never misses an opportunity to lecture the country on nationalism, patriotism and national security”.
Calling this “precisely why the RSS must be registered”, Kharge said an organisation “cannot claim millions of swayamsevaks when it suits its interests and conveniently disown individuals when serious criminal allegations emerge”. Addressing RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, he said he would be happy to personally facilitate the RSS’s registration and even pay the fees himself.
Earlier this month, Haryana’s Special Task Force seized about 25,000 live cartridges and arrested five people, while Bihar Police seized 19,250 cartridges and arrested three people, according to reports. Kharge did not cite the reports on the photographs or name the accused, and the claim of any RSS link has not been independently verified. A response from the RSS or the BJP was not immediately available.
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Subsequent development: RSS activist Tejas A. Gowda filed a complaint at Banashankari Police Station seeking an FIR against Priyank Kharge over his remarks on the cartridge seizure. Read what the complaint seeks.
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