The husband of another BBMP corporator has come under the investigators’ scanner over his alleged role in the Pulakeshinagar riots.
Syed Nasir, whose wife Syed Sajida is the corporator of Muneshwaranagar (ward number 48), appeared before CCB officials on Thursday evening. Investigators questioned him and seized his phone but let him go home later.
Nasir was summoned for questioning after Pulakeshinagar MLA, R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy, named him in a statement to the CCB. Murthy is said to have named two other corporators and the husband of another corporator — all from his own Congress party — for “instigating” the riots to take political revenge on him.
NIA to probe riots?
Meanwhile, the state government is in the process of transferring two riot cases being investigated by the CCB to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). If sources are to be believed, the government is considering putting the NIA on the job after the state Congress accused the Bengaluru police of “bias”.
The city police have opposed the move.
A senior police officer said: “We are not aware that the government is considering transferring the cases to the NIA. We are capable of investigating the cases and taking them to a logical conclusion.”
Another officer who is heading the riots investigations echoed him. “Our investigation is on the right track and we don’t want any central agency to take over the cases. We will ensure that all the cases are thoroughly investigated. The government shouldn’t make such decisions in haste,” he told DH.
The officer denied that NIA officials had contacted him after the CCB invoked the stringent Unlawful Activities (Protection) Act in two cases. The law is invoked in cases involving terrorism.
The CCB has defended invoking the law, saying 40 suspects detained over the riots have links with terrorist outfits. One of them is Samiuddin, of KG Halli, who the CCB says had links with the accused arrested for the murder of RSS worker, R Rudresh, and the bomb blasts at Malleswaram and Church Street.