India Tomorrow
BENGALURU—The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted search operations at over 43 locations on Wednesday, including four offices of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political wing of the Popular Front of India, for their alleged involvement in Bengaluru riots.
The NIA said that its officials seized incriminating materials relating to the SDPI and PFI besides weapons like swords, knife and iron rods during the raids.
According to a statement issued by the NIA, the raids were conducted at 43 locations in Bengaluru city in relation to the riots that had taken place on August 11 in two areas of Bengaluru city.
It said that 293 persons have been arrested in connections with the riots so far. While 124 arrests were made in relation to the riots in DJ Halli Police Station area and the remaining 169 arrests were in relation to the riots in KG Halli Police Station area.
The NIA statement said that the riots led to fear and panic in the nearby areas and the cases pertain to large scale rioting armed with lethal weapons causing injuries to police personnel, destruction of public and private property including DJ Halli and KG Halli police stations buildings besides public and private vehicles.
On August 11, an insidious Facebook post by Naveen Kumar, nephew of Congress MLA R. Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy led to violent protests by an enraged mob.
The riots unleashed by a violent mob left four people dead in a police firing and as many as 60 police personnel were injured. Two police stations and the house of Congress MLA were torched.
After taking over the investigation of the riots, the NIA had named SDPI leader Muzamil Pasha for “instigating the mob” to unleash violence.
Meanwhile, the Bengaluru police that is probing this case parallel to the NIA, have arrested Congress leader and former Bengaluru Mayor R. Sampath Raj, who was absconding for several weeks after being discharged from a hospital.
Police had also arrested one of Raj’s associates named Riyazuddin on November 16 for helping him escape, while a search is on for another Congress corporator in this connection.
The Bengaluru police had registered more than 60 FIRs in this case alone and subsequently followed it up with an 850-page preliminary chargesheet in October.
-With inputs from IANS
