Three youths were killed when police fired at violent protesters who had indulged in widespread arson here in reaction to an offensive social media post and had refused to back off despite requests from minority community leaders.
After Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy’s nephew P. Naveen made the Facebook post, thousands of protesters hit the streets in an eastern neighbourhood of Bangalore late on Tuesday night and torched the lawmaker’s house, a police station and hundreds of vehicles.
The MLA distanced himself from his nephew. “He is my sister’s son, but my family has nothing to do with them. We have not been in touch with him for 10 years,” Murthy told reporters.
The violence in the DJ Halli and KG Halli police station limits saw youths attacking the police with stones and sticks. The rioting left more than 60 policemen, including deputy commissioner Bhimashankar Guled, injured.
Pleas for peace by the Congress’s minority leaders fell on deaf ears.
While Naveen was arrested late in the night for the derogatory post, close to 150 protesters had been picked up by Wednesday evening as several teams of policemen were deployed to trace those involved.
The trouble started when some 15 youngsters gathered outside Pulakeshinagar MLA Murthy’s residence at Kaval Byrasandra around 9pm on Tuesday, but there was no inkling of the violence that would break out a couple of hours later.
As news spread that Naveen had not been arrested, more people hit the streets and joined the protesters outside Murthy’s house. By 11pm, there were a few hundred protesters chanting slogans and seeking Naveen’s arrest.
Murthy later told reporters that none was in the house at the time of the protest.
The protesters vandalised the house before setting it on fire. They then torched the MLA’s brother’s under-construction house in the next compound and did not leave until riot police arrived about 40 minutes later.
Around the same time, two other groups targeted the police stations at DJ Halli and KG Halli in the area.
More than 1,000 people gathered outside DJ Halli police station and hurled stones before entering the compound where they set ablaze around 200 motorbikes seized for various offences. The group also set fire to the basement where vehicles were parked.
Three protesters died when the police opened fire to disperse the mob.
By then, rumours had spread that Naveen was under safe custody at KG Halli police station, prompting another large group of protesters to head there and burn down police vehicles.
Congress MLAs Rizwan Arshad and Zameer Ahmed rushed to the area, hoping to calm down the protesters. But the leaders had to beat a retreat as the protesters were in no mood to relent.
R. Kaleemullah of Swaraj Abhiyan, who was with the two Congress MLAs, later told The Telegraph most of the protesters were in their teens.
“Many of them were young boys aged between 14 and early twenties. When I tried to send them away from DJ Halli police station, a few of them told me, ‘we are not afraid of dying’,” said Kaleemullah. “It was very clear whether they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs. They didn’t look normal and were not ready to listen to anyone,” he added.
The entire area remained shut on Wednesday as the police declared prohibitory orders under CrPC Section 144 in the KG Halli and DJ Halli police station limits. Charred vehicles, shards of glass from broken windows, stones and bricks lay strewn on the deserted roads.
Murthy later met revenue minister R. Ashok to seek police protection for his family.
“I need protection from the government after this incident,” the MLA told the minister in front of reporters. Murthy said that for the past 25 years he had been living with his Muslim brethren but never faced such a problem.
