Arrest of former Bengaluru mayor Sampath Kumar politically motivated: KPCC president

UDUPI: KPCC working president

Saleem Ahmed

terming the arrest of Sampath Raj, former Bengaluru mayor by

Central Crime Branch

of

Bangaluru City Police

as politically motivated, alleged that BJP is intentionally targeting Congress leadership. CCB sleuths had picked up Sampath Raj for his alleged involvement in the arson attack on the house of

R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy

, Pulakeshinagar MLA after he had given police the slip.


Interacting with the media on Tuesday, Ahmed said BJP leadership has been consistently giving statements against Congress leaders even before the police could conclude their probe into recent riots in Bengaluru. “Are they investigating officers or law ministers,” he quipped. Incidentally, state BJP chief

Nalin Kumar Kateel

recently urged the state government to arrest Sampath Raj over allegations of his involvement in the riots.

Urging the police to uphold the law, Ahmed asserted that the Congress will not oppose any investigation into the riots and exhorted Bengaluru City police top brass not to bring politics into their investigation. “It is not correct to target the opposition (leadership) in the name of any ongoing investigation,” he said. “Srinivas Murthy is our leader and the entire party leadership is with him. Let the police act against those who have erred,” Ahmed noted.

Police have arrested more than 100 persons in connection with the D J Halli, K G Halli riots. The entire incident occurred due to failure of Bengaluru City Police to anticipate the situation and react accordingly, he said. “Police have arrested several innocent persons in connection with these riots,” he alleged. Violent clashes erupted on August 11 over an ‘inflammatory FB post’ on the Prophet Muhammad allegedly by the nephew of the MLA.