Bangalore Riots
On the night of 11 August 2020, a violent clashes or riot took place in the Indian city of Bangalore, Karnataka.[5] The clashes between police and protestors started around the residence of Akhanda Srinivas Murthy, a state legislator of the Indian National Congress and later spread to the police stations of KG Halli and DJ Halli.[6] Provoked by a derogatory Facebook post on Muhammad that was allegedly shared by the nephew of the legislator,[7] a group of people arrived at his house in protest which turned violent.[8]
The incident resulted in the imposition of a curfew in the affected areas,[9] the death of 3 people in police firing and injuries to 60 policemen and several journalists inflicted by armed assailants.[10] Following which, over a 100 people who were involved in the crowd were arrested by the police.[11] Some of the crowds were also allegedly led by members of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), an Islamist political outfit[10] and has led to the arrest of a few of its leaders
On 11 August 2020, P. Naveen, the nephew of the Indian National Congress state legislator Akhanda Srinivas Murthy allegedly made a Facebook post which was derogatory towards Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.[13] According to Deccan Herald, he had a record of posting derogatory content.[14] The post went viral in the area and people began gathering in front of the legislator's residence to protest.[15] The police sent two teams to from the DJ Halli station to detain the legislator's nephew.[16] According to the police at around 8 pm, small groups had begun arriving at Kaval Byrasandra following which hundreds began arriving around DJ Halli police station demanding action against those responsible for posting the social media message.[17] Members of the SDPI were reportedly present in the crowd at DJ Halli who tried to report a complaint but claimed that the police were reluctant to do so which agitated the crowd.[10][16] With rising tensions, the crowd began accusing the police of rescuing the legislator's nephew, demanded that the accused should be handed to them and got into physical clashes with police.[18]
According to The Quint, the police at DJ Halli attempted to defuse the tension with the assistance of local community members but when one of the teams returned without the accused they forcefully entered the station, vandalised it and even set police vehicles on fire; the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) had to be called in order to disperse the crowd in order to free the policemen trapped inside the station, the KSRP began by lathi charges, proceeding to firing tear gas, then firing warning shots and eventually fired at the crowd as a last resort.[16] During the time of the confrontation as DJ Halli, a group of 200 people with petrol, kerosene and sticks arrived at the residence of Akhanda Srinivas Murthy and set it on fire.[10] The legislator or his family were reportedly not in his residence at the time of the events.[18] Some of the members of the mob managed to locate Naveen in the same neighborhood and vandalised his house who had to take refuge at his neighbors.[10] The police eventually picked up the legislator's nephew from Kaval Byrasandra.[18]
Around 11 pm, rumours started spreading that a neighboring station KG Halli was protecting the legislator's nephew. During the confrontation with the police in DJ Halli, a section of the mob dispersed and a new mob began to arrive at KG Halli who attempted to enter the station but were met with stronger resistance from the police and in the end resorted to burning down cars parked outside. Several policemen and journalists outside the station were injured by the armed mob The total number of involved in the mobs were corroborated to be around 1000–1200. The police was eventually able to bring the situation under control by 1 am in the morning. Between 1 am to 5 am, the police was reportedly involved in identifying and arresting the complicit individuals in the violence. According to The Hindu, the police firing had overall left 3 dead and 5 injured. The deaths were later confirmed by the city police commissioner
Reference
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق