Hours after the riots in the eastern part of Bengaluru, new City Police Commissioner Kamal Pant, IPS, on Wednesday, August 12, reacted to the incident and urged people to join hands with the police personnel to maintain law and order in the city.
"Bengaluru is an inclusive city, which gives equal opportunities to everybody, but everybody has to respect the law of the land and under no circumstances, anybody would be allowed to break the rule of law," IPS Pant said.
The Bengaluru City Police Commissioner further added, "I request all the citizens to support and to join hands with the police to maintain peace and order in the city."
What exactly happened in East Bengaluru
Three people were killed and several others were injured as police opened fired, burst tear-gas shells and lathi-charged violent crowd after clashes erupted in the eastern part of Bengaluru late Tuesday (August 11) night.
Till now, 110 people have been arrested for the arson, vandalism and assault on police personnel in the KG Halli and DJ Halli police stations in the city. Sixty police personnel have also been injured of which four have severe injuries after being attacked by the mob.
How the clashes unfolded
The violence broke out in Bengaluru over a controversial post on Prophet Muhammad on Facebook allegedly put up by P Naveen, nephew of Pulakeshinagar MLA Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy of the Congress party.
Protesting against the Facebook post, angry mobs gathered outside the Congress MLA's residence, shouting slogans and demanding the arrest of Naveen, who claimed that his account was hacked. Murthy's house was vandalised along with vehicles that were parked outside.
Within minutes, people began sharing the now-deleted post via texts, and soon, over 500 people gathered near the Pulakeshinagar police station demanding justice. The violent crowd also went on a rampage in the Kaval Byrasandra area.
At least 10 to 15 cars were set on fire in the area. Now, as the police personnel tried to control the crowd, they went on to vandalise the police station believing the police are hiding the accused man who shared the post inside the station.
Following the vandalism and arson, the Karnataka government gave permission to open fire as the crowd went out of control.
Three were killed in police firing. However, the situation was finally brought under control at midnight at around 2 am. Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who was in coastal Karnataka for flood inspection, rushed to Bengaluru.
Restrictions under Section 144 of CrPC, which prohibits the assembly of more than five people, have now been imposed across the Bengaluru city. Curfew has also been imposed in DJ Halli and KG Halli police station limits.
