Local politician detained for 'instigating' Bengaluru riots

A local political worker from the Pulakeshinagar assembly constituency has been detained for instigating last week’s riots.

Wajid Pasha was detained along with 30 others during a Sunday night operation. Police say he was one of the conspirators and instigators of the riots. He is said to be the local president of a political party.

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The total detentions over the riots now stand at 346. The number of FIRs have risen to 65. All the suspects were subjected to Covid-19 tests and will be questioned on the basis of the result, an officer who’s part of the investigation said and promised that anyone found innocent would be let off.

Besides being associated with the JD(S), Pasha had formed his own outfit called Karnataka Tippu Tiger Arfath Trust, of which he was the president. On the evening of August 11, he went to the DJ Halli police station along with many others, demanding the arrest of P Naveen, Pulakeshinagar MLA R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy’s nephew, over an offensive post that he had uploaded to Facebook, said an officer who’s part of the investigation.

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A senior officer said Pasha and other members of the crowd were promised that action would be taken against Naveen after registering an FIR. Pasha came out of the police station and started sending WhatsApp messages and making phone calls to his contacts, including members of his outfit. He had also uploaded some controversial post about the MLA on social media, according to police.

Pasha’s close associate, identified as Khalid, later brought a large number of people to the police station and indulged in violence, police said, adding that they were looking out for him.