Bengaluru riots: NIA arrests key conspirator in arson attack on KG Halli police station

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday said it arrested one of the key conspirators of the riots in East Bengaluru last year.

Syed Abbas, 38, a resident of Govindapura, near Tannery Road, "plotted" the arson attack at the KG Halli police station building on August 11, 2020, according to the NIA. He is the president of the Social Democratic Party of India's Nagawara ward. The SDPI is affiliated with the Popular Front of India (PFI).

The NIA said that Abbas and a few office-bearers of the SDPI were "actively involved" in torching vehicles, both government and private, parked in and around the police station and attacking cops at the police station.

Abbas had absconded after the riots, the NIA said. The NIA special court in Bengaluru has remanded Abbas in police custody for six days.

In a statement, the NIA said an unruly mob armed with deadly weapons had "unlawfully gathered" outside the KG Halli police station and attacked and injured many police officers. The mob also set fire to the police station using petrol bombs, the NIA added. The case was initially registered at the KG Halli police station before the NIA took over last September.

The NIA has charged 138 people in the riots case, of which 115 were released on default bail earlier this month.

The riots were triggered by a Facebook post uploaded by P Naveen Kumar, a nephew of Pulakeshinagar MLA R Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy. Protesters went to DJ Halli and KG Halli police stations, demanding action against Kumar. The protest later turned violent.