Naveen’s grilling ends, court remands him in judicial custody

MLA, R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy's house, burnt by a violent mob on August 11, had been sealed and covered in tarpaulin. DH PHOTO/S K DINESH

P Naveen

Naveen P, Pulakeshinagar MLA R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy’s nephew, who was arrested for uploading an offensive Facebook post that led to Bengaluru’s worst riots in two decades last week, was remanded in judicial custody on Monday.

Naveen, the son of Murthy’s elder sister, Jayanthi, was arrested on August 12, a day after the riots. Four people were killed after police opened fire to quell the violent protest.

READ: Local politician detained for 'instigating' Bengaluru riots

Hundreds of protesters had marched to Murthy’s house on August 11, demanding action against Naveen. They later assembled outside the DJ Halli police station, seeking an FIR against Naveen and his arrest.

Police arrested Naveen the next day on the basis of a complaint filed by Firdous Pasha, an auto-rickshaw driver and social activist from DJ Halli. Police questioned him about the Facebook post. His custody ended on Monday, and he was produced before the court, which remanded him in judicial custody. He has been moved to the Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara.

READ: In a first, Karnataka police invoke UAPA in a riot case

Police say Naveen had admitted to uploading the offensive post in response to a post uploaded by Firoz Pasha, an SDPI member and his Facebook friend, on Ram Mandir. An officer who’s part of the investigation said they had seized Naveen’s mobile phone and were trying to retrieve the Facebook post that he had deleted. His custodial interrogation is no more required, the officer added.

Firdous has filed another complaint about the burning of his Honda Active by a mob in front of the DJ Halli police station around 9 pm on August 11.