Jobless men angry at economic inequality torched BJP MLA's cars: Police

Three jobless men angry at the rising gap between rich and poor were behind the torching of two cars belonging to the BJP’s Bommanahalli MLA, M Satish Reddy, in the early hours of Thursday, police said.

One of them had tried to meet the legislator a few times for a job but didn’t get through to him. Their joblessness, coupled with the fact that Reddy travels in swanky cars, forced the men to douse the legislator’s Toyota Fortuner and Mahindra Thar in stolen petrol and set them on fire. It was an act of anger and frustration, according to police.

The suspects were arrested in Garvebhavipalya, South Bengaluru, around 7 pm on Friday after police caught one of them riding a stolen two-wheeler.

The arrests, announced by city police Kamal Pant at a news conference, come as an anticlimax to the incident, which triggered conspiracy theories and communal mudslinging. Some people speculated that the arson was linked to the hospital bed-blocking scam, in which a purported aide of Reddy’s has been charged by the police. Another theory was that the incident was linked to the controversy over the Shiva statue at Begur Lake, located within Reddy’s assembly constituency. Pro-Hindutava groups have removed the cover of the statue built on an artificial island within the lake premises even as the high court is hearing a petition over the matter.

Read | BJP MLA Satish Reddy's cars set on fire near his house in Bengaluru

Police have ruled out all these theories.

Police identified the suspects as Sridhar, 20, of Begur, Naveen, 22, and Sagar, 19, both from Garvebhavipalya. Sagar hails from Nepal and had come to Bengaluru with his parents years ago. He is said to have tried to meet Reddy twice for a job but didn’t succeed.

He teamed up with Sridhar and Naveen, who echoed his feelings of Reddy’s inaccessibility and the rising economic inequality. The men would see Reddy travelling in high-end cars and lament how the rich were getting richer and the poor poorer. They vowed to teach the rich people a lesson by burning Reddy’s cars. They hoped to become famous overnight by targeting powerful people. None of them has a crime record.

“They just wanted to vent their anger on rich people,” a senior police officer said before clarifying that only a through investigation would reveal the “exact” motive.

The trio did a recce of Reddy’s Hongasandra house around Wednesday midnight and left but returned around 1.15 am.

They stole petrol from two-wheelers, poured it on cars parked outside Reddy’s residence and set them afire. Naveen sustained a burn injury on the leg while torching the cars. The incident was caught on camera.

The suspects bode their time at nearby buildings and changed clothes. They then ran for over 1.3 kilometres, stole a bike and escaped, the officer said.