Published 20:23 IST, August 14th 2020
Bengaluru riot: Cong's KJ George extorts faith in police probe, requests no politicisation
Former Karnataka minister and Congress leader KJ George said he has faith in the police probe into Bengaluru violence and requested the case not be politicised
After the arrest of his close aide in connection to the Bengaluru violence on Friday, former Karnataka minister and Congress leader KJ George said he has faith in the police probe and requested the case not be politicised.
"It is an action of miscreants who attacked police officers. I have faith in the police to conduct a proper investigation. It is unwise to comment before the conclusion of the investigation. Please don't politicise the incident," the leader told ANI.
Bengaluru Police arrested Kaleem Pasha, husband of Congress Corporator Irshad Begum and a close aide to George, in connection with the deadly clashes that ensued on August 11. Karnataka's ruling BJP has alleged involvement of Congress in inciting the riot, apart from the incendiary Facebook post of Congress worker which led to the violence.
Bengaluru Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Police Sandeep Patil has stated that the Police has arrested 60 more people in connection with the violence in DJ Halli and KJ Halli areas, taking the total number of arrested people to 206 including the arrest of Kaleem Pasha. Besides, the police informed that a total of 11 First information reports (FIRs) have been registered till now.
Bengaluru Police has formed four teams to investigate the violence that broke out in the city on August 11, over a "derogatory" social media post by the nephew of a Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivasamurthy. The Karnataka government had deployed Rapid Action Force (RAF) on Thursday in the sensitive areas of Bengaluru, after extending Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in areas under DJ Halli and KG Halli police station limits till August 15.
As per Republic Media Network's report, the CCTV footage showed that the Bengaluru violence was a pre-planned conspiracy by the SDPI (Social Democratic Party of India) including the attack on the Congress MLA's residence and the police station.
In an exclusive conversation with Republic TV on Wednesday, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Dr CN Ashwathnarayan said that the government has taken steps to ban SDPI and its other fronts PFI. He added that SDPI took advantage of the provocative Facebook post posted by a Congress worker to incite riots. Lashing out at the SDPI, he said that the main accused in the incident was the lone SDPI Corporator in Bengaluru.
Bengaluru riots
At around 8.30 pm on Tuesday, a riot-like situation was witnessed between the KJ Halli and DJ Halli police station limits in East Bengaluru. A huge mob gathered outside the residence of Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivasamurthy demanding immediate action against his relative Naveen who allegedly wrote a communal post on social media.
Soon, the police resorted to the use of force to contain the violence. By the time the situation was brought under control at around 1 am on Wednesday, three people were killed, nearly 60 police personnel including DCP Bhimashankar Guled were injured and over 300 vehicles were set ablaze.
Updated 20:23 IST, August 14th 2020