BENGALURU: The riots that rocked parts of Bengaluru on Tuesday night has its genesis in a small meeting of local minority community members in Kavalbyrasandra area. The agenda was to discuss a derogatory Facebook post by a relative of local MLA Akhanda Srinivasamurthy and the members decided to take up the matter with the lawmaker and the police.
The group was miffed that Naveen, the Congress legislator’s nephew, sounded jubilant that the bhumi pujan was conducted for the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. While the comments on bhumi pujan were posted a few days ago, and Naveen’s post on Tuesday — a slur against their faith — was the last straw. The community leaders, including some local SDPI activists, decided to press for action against him.
Police sources told TOI that it was “false news, which was spread about policemen on duty not accepting a complaint against Naveen, led to the flare up.”
“Since Naveen is nephew of an MLA, his posts angered people. Moreover, Naveen was accused of cheating several local residents on the pretext of jobs, land deals, government tenders and pilgrimage to Mecca,” said an investigating officer.
A group comprising SDPI activists, headed to Srinivasamurthy’s house, while another went to KG Halli police station. “We did not reject a complaint against Naveen. We only told the group to wait for senior officers to arrive as it was a cyber crime and a sensitive issue. But they wanted Naveen to be arrested immediately. We explained that wasn’t possible without proper evidence. We assured them of action against, but they refused to listen,” personnel at KG Halli police station said.
Word that the police were refusing to act spread fast.