Former mayor named in Bengaluru violence

Bengaluru: The Central Crime Branch has named former Mayor and sitting Congress corporator R Sampath Raj as one of the accused in the case related to the violence that rocked Bengaluru’s DJ Halli and KG Halli areas on August 11. The probe agency on Tuesday said, “He (Sampath Raj) has been named as one of the accused in the DJ halli and KG halli violence.” An official was quoted as saying the Sampath was among those who had information about the violence and did not share it with the police. Sampath’s PA Arun Kumar was arrested earlier for allegedly remaining in touch with people involved in the violence. In the violence that caught the state govt by surprise, a large mob attacked a police station and the residence of Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy after an inflammatory social media post by the relative of the legislator. The violence, which began late on August 11, died down in the early hours of August 12 after the intervention of senior Congress leaders. By then the irate mob set the basement of the DJ Halli police station on fire and vandalised the station. The mob also set vehicles on fire. When the situation went out of control, the police opened fire, killing 3 people on the spot while another person involved in the violence died a few days later. So far, over 300 people have been arrested, including Social Demo­cratic Party of India (SDPI) leader Muzammil Pasha. —Shankar Raj