Bengaluru violence: Ex-Mayor and corporator in dock now

The city police probing the east Bengaluru violence of 11 August night questioned former city Mayor R. Sampath Raj on Tuesday. Accompanied by an advocate, Raj, corporator of DJ Halli, presented himself before Central Crime Branch (CCB) police and joint commissioner. Sandeep Patil questioned him between 11 am and 4 pm. Along with Raj, Abdul Rakib Zakir, corporator of Pulakeshinagar ward, and Arun Manohar, close associate of Raj and class I contractor, were also questioned.

Police said that the questioning was made based on calls made to and received from Raj and Zakir on the day of violence and the theories of political angle surfacing.

“We questioned Raj in detail on his relationship with Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy. A few times, Raj had expressed dismay over Murthy’s decisions made on civic issues in DJ Halli. A couple of times, Raj and Murthy had exchanged heated words in public. Above everything, Raj had made continuous phone calls to many of the suspects arrested during the violence when the mob attacked police stations,” a senior police officer said.

Senior Congress leaders including C.M. Ibrahim met city police commissioner Kamal Pant on Tuesday and discussed the violence-related issues. Former Minister Roshan Baig too met the city top cop.

Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai had stated that the internal strife in the Congress coupled with the upcoming Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike elections had resulted in Pulakeshinagar violence.

Refuting Bommai’s statement categorically, the state Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar had alleged that the government was trying to cover up its failure to avert the violence by giving misleading statements.

In a related matter, police sources said: “In our investigation, we found that over 40 suspects, who took part in the violence had links with accused arrested in cases linked to bomb blasts outside BJP office in Malleshwaram and Church Street that claimed the life of a woman and also RSS functionary Rudresh’s murder.”

Police have detained around 10 men from their hideout in a village near Tiptur in Tumakuru district during wee hours on Tuesday. According to police sources, the suspects were among the mob that attacked houses of Murthy and his nephew Naveen when the violence broke out.

“They were on the run since 11 August night. We were tracking them continuously. On the morning of 12 August, they reached Mangaluru and to Kasargod later. From there, they travelled to Shimoga and then Tiptur,” police sources said.