One held for 'harbouring' absconding ex-mayor wanted in Bengaluru violence case

A man has been arrested on charges of helping and harbouring absconding former mayor R Sampath Raj and another Congress corporator, accused in the case related to the August 11 violence here, police said on Monday.

The Central Crime Branch probing the violence arrested Riyazuddin for allegedly aiding Raj and Abdul Rakeeb Zakir to escape from the city last month and gave them shelter for a few days, they said.

The man has been remanded to judicial custody by a court after his arrest on November 7. Raj had alleged escaped from a hospital where he was admitted for coronavirus treatment despite the police having told authorities to report to them before discharging him. "Riyazuddin took Raj and Zakir in his car to a farmhouse near Nagarhole and gave them shelter for a few days," a police officer said.

Nagarhole is a national park spread over Mysuru and Kodagu district. The two are wanted in connection with the cases related to the violence that rocked parts of the city in August.

Around 3,000 to 4,000 people went on a rampage, setting ablaze the houses of Pulakeshinagar Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy and his sister over an alleged inflammatory social media post by his nephew.

The mob also torched Devara Jeevanahalli and Kadugondanahalli police stations over suspicion that the nephew was present there. Three people were killed in police firing while another person died due to abdominal injuries suffered in the violence.

In the charge sheet, Raj, a Congress corporator from the Devara Jeevanahalli, has been charged with hatching a conspiracy for the violence to finish off the MLA politically in connivance with Zakir and a few others. Raj and Zakir were still at large and a hunt was on to nab them, police said.