Woman ‘mastermind’ among 54 arrested for Padarayanapura violence
Why were senior cops not at the scene, asks Home Minister
BENGALURU:
Was the violence at Padarayanapura pre-planned to prevent people being quarantined? The facts will be known after a special team under Additional Commissioner of Police Soumendu Mukherjee submits its report to the state government.
The police have arrested 54 persons in the wake of Sunday’s violent incidents in the area, which is a Covid hotspot and has been completely sealed.
Firoza, allegedly the mastermind behind the violence, was arrested on the basis of CCTV visuals where she can be seen vandalising two- wheelers and barricades used to seal the area.
FIRs have been filed in the JJ Nagar police station under IPC sections 353 and 307, and under NDMA sections 353, 332, 324 and 201.
Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has come down heavily on a community over the mob violence.
He condemned the attack on cops, BBMP and health officials who had gone to take primary and secondary contact to a quarantine centre. “The state government will not tolerate any kind of violence and a free hand has been given to the police to take stringent action against violators,” he said.
Top cops taken to task
At a late night meeting held under the leadership of the Chief Minister, and attended by Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Revenue Minister R Ashoka and top police officers, it was decided to set up a special investigation team under Additional Commissioner of Police Soumendu Mukherjee to investigate the incident.
Meanwhile, on Monday morning, after another round of talks with the CM, Bommai visited the spot along with senior police officials to take stock of the situation. He expressed his annoyance over senior police officers not being on the scene when the violence happened.
“There is no other task given to the cops apart from handling Covid-19 related issues. Why were senior cops not at the site when the violence begin?” he asked in the presence of City Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao and Additional Commissioner of Police Soumendu Mukherjee.
Bommai said, “I met the CM and briefed him. He has told us to act strictly. I’ve told the same to my officials. We won’t tolerate such acts by anyone. We have arrested 54 people. 5 FIRs have been registered. We will make sure the others are quarantined.”
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