Bengaluru violence live updates: District magistrate to conduct an inquiry, government to recover losses from rioters

No one is above the law and strict action must be taken against those responsible for the attack on police station and vandalism, said Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy on Wednesday in connection with the Bengaluru violence.

The Congress on Wednesday hit out at the BJP government in Karnataka over the violence in Bengaluru in which three people were killed after police opened fire to quell a mob that went on a rampage irked over a social media post, and said it was a "complete failure of law and order machinery".

Karnataka Home MinisterBasavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said six companies of the Central Reserve Police Force are being dispatched to the violence-hit areas of Bengaluru. Three companies from Hyderabad and three from Chennai will be deployed in DG Halli and K G Halli police station limits where disturbances occurred Tuesday night, after which three people died in police firing, he said in an interaction with reporters at Udupi before leaving for Bengaluru.

It was the public's fault and not that of the police forces, said Sharif, an eye-witness to DJ Halli police station's vandalisation, a member of the Civil Defense group on Wednesday in connection with the Bengaluru violence on Tuesday night. Sharif, who had come to record his statement with the police in connection with the incident, told reporters that a mob had surrounded the police station and attacked it from all sides.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi condemned the violence in Bengaluru over a social media post on Tuesday night and appealed to religious leaders to condemn it too. "The violence that took place in Bengaluru yesterday is highly condemnable. Some people took law into their own hands under the pretext of hurt religious sentiments. No one is above the law. If someone's religious sentiments are hurt then they should go and file a police complaint. I request all concerned religious leaders to strongly condemn this," Joshi said.

The Karnataka government on Wednesday decided to conduct an inquiry into the violence in parts of the city last night, in which at least three people were killed and scores of others were injured, though a District Magistrate. The government also decided to recover the losses arising from damage to public property during the violence, from the rioters, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said.

Terming the violence in the city as a 'well planned act,' Karnataka revenue minister R Ashoka on Wednesday said the 'traitors,' who perpetrated the riots would be dealt with an iron hand and steps would be taken to ensure that such incidents do not recur.

Bengaluru South Member of Parliament Tejasvi Surya on Wednesday advised Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa to go the Yogi Adityanath way in confiscating the rioters' properties to compensate for the loss to public property. "I request Yediyurappa to confiscate and attach the properties of the rioters and compensate the losses to public property in the same way as the Adityanath government did in Uttar Pradesh," the BJP MP said.

A day after the attack on its party MLA in Bengaluru, the Congress has condemned the incident and has questioned the role of the police in controlling the riots in which three persons died. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala in a statement on Wednesday said, "Riots and arson are reprehensible, condemnable and unacceptable, and it is a complete failure of the law and order machinery and rule of law. Was the Yediyurappa government sleeping or waiting for violence to happen. And, why did the police not act in time? Who is responsible for the three deaths?"

Karnataka home minister Basavaraj Bommai, while maintaining that the situation in riot-hit areas of DG Halli and KG Halli police station limits in Bengaluru, was completely under control, said the government as a precautionary measure had sought Centre’s assistance to deal with the fallout. As a result, the Union home ministry has decided to dispatch six companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) – three each from Hyderabad and Chennai respectively – he said.

Karnataka Congress working president Saleem Ahmed on Wednesday alleged that the delay in police action against the person who posted controversial content on social media had triggered violence in Bengaluru.

Opposition Congress and JD(S) in Karnataka on Wednesday extended complete support to the state government in establishing peace in violence-hit parts of the city and demanded immediate action against the culprits.

Areas under Pulakeshinagar assembly constituency here resembled a war zone on Wednesday, hours after after an unruly mob went on a rampage torching vehicles, irked over a 'communally sensitive' social media post allegedly by put up by a relative of a Congress MLA.