NIA arrests key conspirator in Bengaluru riots case

Team Udayavani, Jul 1, 2021, 7:45 AM IST

Bengaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday arrested an alleged key conspirator in the riots in Bengaluru in August last year that left four people dead.

Thirty-eight-year-old Syed Abbas, a resident of Govindpur, was arrested from Bengaluru, a spokesperson of the agency said.

Abbas is the ward president of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) in Nagawara in Bengaluru.

He was produced before a special NIA court in Bengaluru which sent him to six-day custody of the agency.

Over 3,000 people went on a rampage in Bengaluru on August 11 last year torching the residences of Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy, his sister Jayanthi over an inflammatory social media post by a relative of the legislator.

The irate mob then set the DJ Halli and KG Halli police stations on fire over suspicion that the relative was in the lockup there. The vandals damaged public and private properties and set many vehicles on fire.

To control the angry crowd, police had opened fire killing three people on the spot while the fourth person allegedly involved in the violence died in a hospital.

After taking over the case on September 21, 2020, the NIA had so far chare-sheeted 138 accused.

“Investigation has revealed that accused Abbas is the president of SDPI Nagawara, Bengaluru Ward. He along with his co-conspirators…were actively involved in burning vehicles and attacking police officers on duty at KG Halli Police Station,” the NIA said.

The spokesperson said further investigation in the case continues.