BENGALURU – Baton-wielding police on Wednesday afternoon patrolled a barricade and abandoned streets in parts of Bengaluru’s southern Indian technical hub after three people were killed in overnight clashes fueled by a Facebook post offensive against Muslims.
The violence began late Tuesday, with mobs placing stones, burning cars and setting a police station on fire and lasted until the early hours of Wednesday. Dozens of people were injured.
‘Seeing a lot of fire, smoke and violence was really scary. I was really scared. We have only seen such things on TV, “said Ahan Khan, a law student who lives at the police station in northeast Bengaluru.
Police said the person responsible for the offensive post, which has since been cleared, was arrested. A Facebook spokesman said it was investigating, adding its standards banned hate speech and incitement to violence.
Kamal Pant, Bengaluru police commissioner, said his officials initially tried to stop about 1,000 protesters with batons and tear gas, but then opened fire.
“The police had no escape and they had to use fire and three people died,” Pant said, adding that 110 people were arrested for proven vandalism and police attacks.
The three victims were Muslim men between 19 and 21 years old, said Rizwan Arshad, a lawmaker from the Congress party in Bengaluru, who reached the police station on Tuesday night amid the violence to call for calm.
A medical officer at Bowring Hospital said they had treated at least 27 injured policemen and 12 Protestants, including three who had sustained injuries.
A police official said an emergency law banning bans was introduced in Bengaluru, a city of 12 million people known as the Silicon Valley of India.
Police gave the first name of the accused man as Naveen and said he was the cousin of a Congress politician whose house was violently attacked and burned.
The politician, R. Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy, called for rest in a video message by media.
‘We are all brothers. “Whatever crime is committed, let the law teach them a lesson,” Murthy said. “I call on our Muslim Brotherhood and everyone to keep the peace.”
Television channels on Tuesday night revealed that a group of people were gathering outside a police station, colliding with officers and burning several police cars.
On Wednesday afternoon, burnt remains of several cars and motorcycles were strewn across the basement parking lot of police station DJ Halli, the facade of which was also damaged by fire.
Nearby streets were lined with burning cars, with all shops closed along the nearly two-kilometer-long stretch where the police station is located.
“We are investigating the issue and will use the CCTV footage to see who is behind these violent acts and will take strict action,” said Basavraj Bommai, Prime Minister of the state of Karnataka, where Bengaluru is located. .
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