Bengaluru sees deadly violence over anti-Islam FB post
BANGALURU: Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said the government will seize the properties of those indulged in Bengaluru violence on Tuesday night, in which at least three people were killed and others were injured.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Bommai said: “We have come to a decision as per the Supreme Court order that when such riots take place and properties are damaged, the loss has to be recovered from those who have caused the damage.”
That action we are going to take immediately we are identifying the persons and assessing the losses and we will see that losses are recovered by the rioters. I have given orders to initiate all the measures to recover losses from those who have caused the damage,” Bommai said.
“I want to warn the people that those who are taking the law into their hands will be taught a lesson. Conspiracy behind (Bengakuru violence) will be exposed,” the minister exhorted. The Karnataka government has decided to conduct an inquiry though a District Magistrate.
“There are National Human Rights Commission guidelines for such a situation, as per which the inquiry will be conducted by the district executive magistrate. This decision was taken at the meeting headed by the Chief Minister,” Bommai said.
At least three people were killed after police opened fire to quell a mob that indulged in violence and arson on Tuesday night after a ‘communally sensitive’ social media post allegedly put out by a Congress legislator Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy’s relative.
On banning Popular Front of India (PFI), the Minister said that during the Congress government they had shut many cases, but “we need to look into these cases and initiate the process.”
Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya advised Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa saying “I request Yediyurappa to confiscate and attach the properties of the rioters and compensate the losses to public property in the same way as the Adityanath government did in Uttar Pradesh.”
Congress MLA Srinivasamurthy’s residence and a police station were among those targeted by the angry mob, prompting the government to issue a stern warning that rioting and law and order issues will not be tolerated. As many as 110 people, allegedly involved in the violence, and the accused who posted the communal post have been arrested.
While the police are yet to zero in on how the violence started, a political battle is well on way over it between the state’s ruling BJP and the Congress.
Around 200 bikes kept inside the DJ Halli police station in the basement were set on fire and the building was damaged in the violence. Three people died when the police opened fire to control the mob. Many police personnel were injured, the officers have said.
Curfew has been declared in the violence-hit areas that have narrow, crowded roads and a relatively high proportion of Muslim residents. Leaders from the Muslim community met city police commissioner Kamal Pant earlier today and told him that the police were slow to act on complaints about the social media post the community leaders found offensive.
Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal Secular, said no community was above the law. “Such incidents indicate that this is a pre-planned attack. An explosion of people’s frustration due to nepotism by local representatives and their hunger for power,” he added.
(With Agency Inputs ).
