HUBBBALLI/BENGALURU: Hubballi city was calm and peaceful on Monday, two days after violence erupted over a social media post.
All the arrested 89 people, including four minors, were produced before the court via video conferencing from the central jail. AIMIM leader Irfan Nalvatwad, husband of AIMIM corporator Hussainbi Nalvatwad from ward no. 77, was detained and is being questioned, said police. The youth, who had uploaded the derogatory message as his WhatsApp status, was produced before the court personally and his judicial custody was extended till April 30.
A team exclusively scanning CCTV footage has identified more than 100 rioters. The cybercrime team is also looking into social media posts and messages on WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram accounts that led to the violence.
In Bengaluru, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday said that arrests have been made and an investigation is on. "Action will be taken against those guilty in accordance with the law," he told reporters. Home minister Araga Jnanendra, who reviewed the situation, said the incident looked pre-planned as miscreants had stockpiled stones much before the incident. This angle is being probed, he added.
BJP claimed that the mob rampage was backed by the opposition party which wanted to disrupt law and order on the lines of the riots that rocked Bengaluru in 2020. Congress accused the ruling party of trying to use emotive and Hindutva issues to divert attention from corruption issues pertaining to it.
KPCC working president Saleem Ahmed said: "Police should punish the culprits, not innocents. How did lights go off and who pelted stones with their faces covered when people had assembled near the police station?"
Union minister Pralhad Joshi said the state government won't spare any person or organisation involved in the riots. "We are probing if SDPI, PFI or similar organisations were involved."
Asked about possible action of employing bulldozers to raze properties of rioters, he said, "If we utilize existing laws, that will be more than enough to maintain law and order."
