CFD factFindingCommittee Report

CITIZENS FOR DEMOCRACY
A REPORT OF FACT FINDING COMMITTEE

ON BENGALURU (K. G. HALLI AND D. J.
HALLI) RIOTS(AUGUST 11, 2020)
Submitted on:
4th September, 2020
Fact Finding Committee Report on
Bengaluru Riots – August 2020
CONTENTS
Executive Summary ………………………………………………… 2
Introduction ……………………………………………….………….. 6
Observations of the Committee ………………………………..….. 10
Analysis of the Observations ……………………………………..... 20
Recommendations of the Committee ……………………………… 40
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Citizens for Democracy is a platform of responsible citizens committed to
democratic values, safety and security of the citizens of India. Started in 2011,
Citizens for Democracy has conducted various seminars, campaigns on topics
of national and social importance. Campaigns to create awareness on
injustice done to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Political killings in
Kerala, Killings of many socio-political activists in Karnataka, religious hatred
that resulted in killings of innocent people in West Bengal etc., are a few to
quote. CFD had also conducted voter awareness programs during the general
elections in 2014 and 2019.
It is unfortunate that the city of Bengaluru had to witness riots in Kaval
Bhyrasandra area (Devera Jeevana Halli Police Station limits) of
Pulakeshinagar assembly constituency. This not only has affected the local
residents but also the Congress legislator Sri Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy, who
hails from a scheduled caste community. Police stations were stoned and
torched, vehicles torched and targeted Hindu houses were looted and set on
fire. These kinds of incidents attempt to shake the solidarity of the Bengaluru
citizens. It is imperative to survey the incident neutrally without any bias or
vested political interests with a sole commitment towards truth. Citizens for
Democracy has formed a FACT FINDING COMMITTEE consisting of
prominent representatives of the society.
On the 11th of August, 2020, a group of about 15 to 20 Muslim youth
gathered outside Pulikeshi Nagar Congress MLA R Akhanda
Srinivasamurthy’s house in Kaval Bhyrasandra in Bengaluru to protest
against the derogatory post put by Naveen Kumar, nephew of Local MLA. SDPI
members like Muzammil Pasha, Fairoz etc went to the Police Station to lodge
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a complaint against Naveen Kumar for the said post. Despite assurance from
the Police that action would be taken against him, the crowd swelled to about
3000 in a short span of time and attacked the residence of MLA Akhand
Srnivas Murthy, P Naveen Kumar, K G Halli Police Station and D.J. Halli
Police Station simultaneously. Apart from the above, they attacked several
other Hindu homes, torched Police and private vehicles, pelted stones at
windows and attacked property with rods, machetes and other weapons. The
planning was made in such a manner that the Police was forced to use tear
gas and open fire at this unruly mob.
It is estimated that nearly 36 Government vehicles, nearly 300 private
vehicles and many houses were destroyed. The damage could be estimated to
be nearly 10-15 crores.
The Committee after visiting the riot affected area, interacting with
several victims, police and prominent people and after perusing available
evidence have inferred the following.
a. That the riots were pre-planned and organised.
b. The mob has specifically targeted certain prominent Hindus in the area.
c. That the entire incident qualifies to be a riot against the state with the
motive of reducing the faith of common people in the State.
d. It could be seen from the FIRs and certain interactions with the victims,
that Local people were also involved in carrying out this riot. The
committee is of the opinion that the locals were not only involved in
execution but were also aware about it in advance.
e. Despite attempts being made to project the same as political rivalry, it
was undoubtedly communally motivated. The Committee is of the
opinion that based on the kind of houses that have been attacked and
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people who have been targeted, the motive of the riots could also be fear
mongering so as to change the demography and turn the area into a
Muslim majority one.
f. The Committee is of the opinion that SDPI and PFI are involved in
planning and execution of this incident.
Based on the above observations, the Committee mainly recommends the
following:
a. All the costs that have been incurred by the State and private persons
have to be recovered by attaching the property of the rioters.
b. The pattern of the riots is common with that of Delhi and Sweden.
Therefore, it is imperative for the state to investigate the incident
holistically and not consider them to be isolated and local.
c. The funding received by individuals and religious extremist
organisations who are involved in anti-social activities must be tracked
and continuously monitored by involving the NIA.
d. Potential areas that might face such communal tensions must be
identified by the Police in advance and short-term and long-term plans
must be made to curb such tensions.
e. Cyber Dome must be established so as to ensure that Social Media is
not used for hate mongering against any religion, race, class, sect etc.
f. It is recommended that drug menace be curbed with iron fists.
g. It is further recommended that intelligence generation mechanisms
have to be strengthened by the Police at various levels so as to prevent
the occurrence of any such riots.
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h. With the abolition of Section 66A of Information Technology Act, 2000,
a mechanism has to be evolved to prevent and prosecute derogatory,
abusive and hate content targeting any religion, race, class,
organisation or sect of people.
5
INTRODUCTION
Citizens for Democracy is a platform of responsible citizens committed to
democratic values, safety and security of the citizens of India. Started in 2011,
Citizens for Democracy has conducted various seminars, campaigns on topics
of national and social importance. Campaigns to create awareness on
Injustice done to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Political killings in
Kerala, Killings of many socio-political activists in Karnataka, Religious
hatred that resulted in killings of innocent people in West Bengal etc., are a
few to quote. CFD had also conducted voter awareness programs during the
general elections in 2014 and 2019.
It is unfortunate that the city of Bengaluru had to witness riots in Kaval
Bhyrasandra area (Devera Jeevana Halli Police Station limits) of
Pulakeshinagar assembly constituency. This not only has affected the local
residents but also the Congress legislator Sri Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy, who
hails from scheduled caste community. Police stations were stoned and
torched, vehicles torched and targeted Hindu houses were looted and set on
fire. These kinds of incidents attempt to shake the solidarity of the Bengaluru
citizens.
It is imperative to survey the incident neutrally without any bias or
vested political interests with a sole commitment towards truth. In view of
this, Citizens for Democracy identified a need to look at this whole episode in
detail, uncover the plot behind it, and come up with a plan of action that can
be implemented by the society and the Government both. To address this
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need, Citizens for Democracy has formed a FACT FINDING COMMITTEE
consisting of prominent representatives of the society. This FACT FINDING
COMMITTEE has visited the affected areas, heard from the victims, accessed
the available evidences and prepared this report with findings and
recommendations. The Committee is chaired by a Retd. Judge and consists
of retired bureaucrats, journalists, advocates, professors and social workers.
Below are the members of the committee.
Chairman:
Hon’ble Justice Sri. Srikanth Babaladi, Retd. District Judge
Members:
Sri. Madan Gopal, Retd. IAS
Sri. Dr. R Raju, Retd. IFS
Sri. Dr. Prakash, Retd. IRS
Sri. M N Krishnamurthy, Retd. DGP
Sri. R K Mattoo, Journalist
Sri. Santhosh Thammaiah, Journalist
Sri. Dr. M Jayappa, Professor
Sri. Dr. H T Aravinda, Professor
Sri. Muniraju, Social worker
Sri. Jerome Anto, Social worker
Smt. Kshama Nargund, Advocate
What happened in DJ Halli on 11th August 2020?
Below is the sequence of events that happened in DJ Halli.
1. At around 8 pm, 15-20 members of the Muslim community gathered
outside Pulakeshinagar Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy’s
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house in Kaval Bhyrasandra in Bengaluru. They were protesting
against a derogatory post on Prophet Muhammed by his nephew
Naveen.
2. In a matter of few minutes, the crowd started swelling and stone pelting
began. Within an hour, more than 200 rioters, armed with stones,
sticks, petrol and kerosene cans started damaging the legislator’s
residence and set his house and many vehicles on fire.
3. At around 8 pm, another group of people, including SDPI members like
Muzammil Pasha, who had been reportedly offended by the MLA’s
nephew’s Facebook post tried to file a police complaint in the DJ Halli
Police Station against him. Police sent two teams to arrest Naveen. They
requested sometime to find out the accused and arrest him. Police
returns after 1.5 hours or so, as they could not locate and arrest him.
Citing this as a reason, the group reached out to more of their
community members who started gathering outside the DJ Halli police
station. The protest against the police quickly turned violent and by 10
pm, almost 1,200 people had started rioting outside the police station.
4. The mobs locked the gate from outside and pelted stones at the police
station. With SD Sharanappa, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East)
and two other senior police officials still inside the DJ Halli police
station, the mob violence escalated. At least 10 vehicles, including
Innovas of two DCPs, were damaged in front of the station. The rioters
also set fire to the vehicles in front of the DJ Halli police station and the
vehicles parked in the basement. The rioters were seen raising slogans
like ‘Allah-hu-Akbar’ and ‘Nara-e-Taqbeer’ outside the police station.
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5. Starting from 8.30 pm, the rioters attacked Mune Gowda’s house, Arun
Gowda’s house, one liquor shop and few more Hindu houses. They
damaged few vehicles, set vehicles on fire and damaged the buildings.
6. Another group of rioters attacked the house of Naveen, much in the
same manner as they attacked Srinivas Murthy’s house. As there was
no security at Naveen’s residence, the rioters managed to break into the
house and run amok while members of Naveen’s family had to quickly
take shelter in their neighbour’s house. They used petrol bombs,
stones, metal rods to destroy the house. Rioters used kerosene, petrol
and other inflammable chemicals to set the house on fire.
7. Another group of rioters moved to a street near to Srinivas Murthy’s
house, where predominantly Hindu families reside. They damaged
almost all the vehicles parked outside the houses. One women was
wounded as a pelted stone hit her forehead.
8. Around 11 pm, violence broke out at the KG Halli police station, which
is 1.5 km away from the DJ Halli police station. Muslim religious
leaders and politicians reached the area to dissuade the mob from
indulging in more violence. Congress leaders Zameer Ahmed Khan and
Rizwan Arshad also arrived at the site after police officials asked them
to speak to the mob.
9. Police used tear gas shells and opened fire at the mob around 11 pm.
It was after the firing that the crowd dispersed. After the crowd
dispersed, the police cleared the streets in Kaval Byrasandra and DJ
Halli and the situation was brought under control at 1 am in the night.
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OBSERVATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE
The Committee visited the highly affected areas on 16th August 2020
and on 18th August 2020. The Committee took account of the value of damage
perpetrated to State Property and Private property, interacted with the victims
and their families, neighbours of affected families and eyewitnesses. The
Committee also visited the Police Stations to understand the incident from
the eyes of the Police who have also been injured by the rioters. Further, the
Committee also visited the houses of those families who have lost their near
ones during the shooting by the Police to disperse the crowd. The Committee
has also interacted with the prominent personalities in the area and have
interacted with the journalists who have been affected by the riots.
The Committee has taken a holistic approach to have a 360 o view of the
entire incident. The Committee has gone through print, visual and online
media reports with respect to the incident. The Committee has also accessed
the FIRs that have been suo-motu registered by the Police for damage to State
Property as well as all those FIRs which have been filed by the Public.
Attack on local MLA office.
A Muslim mob with arms and petrol bombs have attacked M.L.As
official office which is located about 50 yards in Kavalbyrasandra area. The
furniture and most of the government records being used for day to day
transactions have been totally burnt.
Attack on Naveen S/o Pavan’s house (MLA’s Nephew).
The residence of Sri. Naveen S/o Pavan Kumar (an employee from
K.C.General Hospital) aged about 30 years located on the main road about
100 meters from the Kavalbyrasandra bus stand. The neighbors of this house
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are Muslims with one or two Hindu families. At the time of field visits by the
team on 16-08-2020 Sri. Pavan Kumar, father of Sri. Naveen was present near
the house with his wife. The committee apart from witnessing the destroyed
and burnt house interacted with Sri. Pavan Kumar and his wife. According
Sri. Pavan Kumar on 11th august, 2020 around 8:30 p.m a mass of around
200 people had gathered in front of the house and attacked the house with
stones, iron rods and petrol bombs. “Upon personally witnessing the attack
on the house me and my wife with my daughter and her children were
scared for life and moved to the first floor and from there through a back
door jumped into the neighboring house and got a shelter” . “The unruly
crowd gathering in front of the house threw petrol bombs on the house,
poured kerosene in the house on sofa and furniture, and torched the
house to burn. At the time of attack they have destroyed most of the
furniture, electronic items and important documents. They have looted
cash of around 5 lakhs, watches, gold chains belonging to me and around
15 lakhs of rupees of cash and jewels of my wife. One of the Muslim
women from the neighboring house come to the rescue of my wife and
helped her escape”.
Sri. Pavan Kumar around 61 years of age father of Sri. Naveen Kumar
around 30 years has clarified that he was aware of the Facebook posts and
communications between his son and some of Muslim friends of the locality.
He further clarified that he was not aware that the situation turned so serious
to an extent of accusing each others religion. “However I used to advice my
son not to indulge in any misleading transaction leading to any kind of
conflicts among the friends. He stated that it is unfortunate to note that
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the situation has reached to its worst extent”. He clarified that the sitting
M.L.A. Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy is his own brother of his wife thus his son
Sri Naveen is the nephew of Sri. Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy. Sri. Pavan
Kumar has also stated that two of his cars parked in front of his house along
with 4 motor bikes were burnt down by this mob during the attack.
Attack on Arun Gowda house.
The team has visited the residence of Sri. Arun Gowda who is living in
his own house on the cross road which is about 50 to 60 meters from Naveen’s
residence and 50 to 60 meters from the Kavalbyrasandra bus stop. Sri. Arun
gowda is an active member of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike. On the day of
incident, he with his wife who is 8th months pregnant were at home. “It was
around 10:45 p.m some people started gathering near my house and
planned to attack us. They began to throw stones on the house and broke
the CCTV cameras fixed at the house. We suspected the attack on our
house and on us and decided to escape from the backyard of our house
to the neighboring house. I have confirmed that the miscreants who
attacked my house and property were Muslim youth of the same
locality”. One person by name Saravana was also present at the time of
interaction and claimed that he is living in the neighboring house of Sri. Arun
Gowda and confirmed the event was a planned attack on Arun gowda’s house
for old grudge. They have broken and damaged the car and two bikes parked
in front of Arun Gowda’s house by beating them with long and sickles and
then set them on fire.
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Burning of Dileep Bar:
The team visited the burnt site of Dileep bar and observed the status of
the said burnt building. This building is a two storied built in 30×40 size site
on the main road which is around 100 meters from the bus stand. The ground
floor of the building was used for the purpose of running the Bar. The entire
building was set fire and the building interiors and furniture have been totally
burnt into ashes and the debris and remnants was still lying intact in the said
burnt building.
The proprietor of the Bar one Sri. Chandra Kumar was at the site and
he explained the whole incident which happened as follows:
“It was on 11th August, 2020 around 8 p.m. in the night a unruly mob
consisting of around 200 Muslim youths came and gathered in front of
the Bar. They had demanded to close the Bar and instantaneously started
damaging the bar furniture and other belongings trespassing into the
Bar. This unruly crowd comprised of only Muslim youth aged between 18
to 25 and carried iron rods, sickles in their hands and started beating
and damaging the Bar and its belongings. Some of the youths who had
carried the petrol bombs and kerosene in their hands threw them on the
Bar and set it on fire. It was in a fraction of few seconds due to petrol,
kerosene and the alcohol content in the stock of the shop which were
inflammable, the entire Bar was burnt into ashes. The staff of the Bar
and myself (Chandra Kumar proprietor of the Bar) miraculously escaped
from the scene and forced ourselves into a neighboring house for
protection by escaping through the back door. The approximate damages
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caused due to this willful arson is around 5 lakhs of liquor and 25 lakhs
worth of property”.
Burning of Navaneet wines:
This Bar is located on the diagonal road to the Kaval Bairasandra bus
stand. The proprietor of the Bar is one Sri. Rajanna former president
Bengaluru Urban Zilla Panchayat.
The person found at the Bar on the day of inspection revealed to the
committee that this Bar is located at the same place for past 30 years. On the
day of incident (11th August, 2020) it was around 9pm a group of people
consisting of around hundred (100) Muslim youths arrived at the Bar by
shouting slogans in the Urdu language. This unruly mob have entered into
the building and started looting and destroying the material stored in the wine
shop and further set fire by pouring kerosene which were brought by them. It
had all happened in a span of 30 minutes and the entire building was up in
flames for at least 2 hours. The total property damaged due to this attack was
around 25 lakhs. The mob left the place after confirming the entire unit is
burnt and all the materials stored were damaged.
Attack on Civilian residences and properties:
There are large number of civilian residences and properties damaged
by this unruly mob of Muslim youths on 11th August, 2020 night. Some of the
properties identified the committee during the visit are as follows.
1. Residence of Sri. Munegowda
2. Residence of Sri. Mohan (1st cross, Munanjappa layout)
3. Residence of Sri. Gajendra (Defense official)
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4. Residence of Sri. ShashiKumar.
5. Residence of Smt.Munilaksmi.
6. Residence of Sri. Ashwath .
7. Auto rickshaw of one Sri. Ramji.
8. Residence of Sri. Robin.
9. Residence of Sri. Ramaswamy . Sakamma layout
10. Residence of Smt. Jayanti .
Munegowda’s Residence.
The committee visited the damaged house of Sri. Munegowda which is
located in the same layout of Kaval Byrasandra.
While interacting with Sri. Munegowda present at the time of visit
confirmed that he is living there in Kaval Bairasandra area since last 30 to 40
years and further clarified that he being the President of Welfare association
of the layout actively involved in social activities of the area. Therefore he said
to have been more friendly and familiar with the localities. While interacting
with Sri.Munegowda and his family members the following facts were noted.
“On 11th August, 2020 at around 200 Muslim youths gathered in front of
my house during my absence. I had gone to the temple which is
monitored by us in the vicinity of the area and was busy in the temple
activity till 11:30 pm as there was an important pooja activity. It was
around 11 pm in the night I received call from my residence stating that
there is a big galata going on in the area and coming back home at this
time will be dangerous therefore it is advisable to stay back in the
temple. I sensed the element of danger to the life and decided to stay
back at the temple as per advice of my family”.
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Sri. Munegowda further stated that around 25 Muslim youth aged
between 18 to 25 years had gathered in front of the house with sickles, iron
rods and started shouting against us. After few minutes second group of
around 50 Muslim youths have joined the mob which was already in front of
the house and caused to aggravate the situation and started damaging the 2
cars and motor bikes parked in front of the house and afterwards forcibly
started entering the house by breaking the main door. This unruly mob later
entered the house and started damaging furniture, T.V, laptop and photos
including many more electronic gadgets. All were speaking in Urdu language
and were under the influence of ganja, afeem, and whitener. However they
have not caused any damage on human life although his family women
members were there at the time of incident. The whole incident of this attack
happened between 11 to 11:20 pm and the local police arrived at the place
around 2.am in the morning. Sri. Munegowda further stated that in the
Kavalbyrasandra area Muslims, Hindus and Tamilians are living in a mixed
proportion. Surprisingly only selected Hindus houses were attacked and not
even single Muslims property was damaged. Therefore it can be considered as
the incident is very well pre-planned and meticulously executed.
The committee has visited the other nearby streets where the number
of Hindu houses and properties have been damaged due to this attack as
listed above.
Attack on Government Machinery
K.G Halli Police Station:
On 11-08-2020, Tuesday night a violent mob has attacked the Kadu
Gondana Halli Police station and simultaneously the Devara Jeevana Halli
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Police Station too. As narrated by the SHO of Kadu Gondana Halli Police
station Sri. Raviprasad that, both the Police stations were at receiving end as
the attack attempt with the unruly act of arson, stone petting and even to the
extent of attacking the uniform staff who were on duty. Some of the police
personal present outside the Kadu Gondana Halli Police station were chased
by the armed mob and they took shelter nearby, even as they waited for more
personal to arrive.
Virtually the clashes between the Muslim mob and Police started
around the residence of legislator and spread to the Police station at Kadu
Gondana Halli and simultaneously to the Devara Jeevana Halli Police Station.
All the people involved in the attack were Muslim youth. When the situation
became uncontrollable resulting in injuries to over 80 police men and several
journalists and after the Kadu Gondana Halli Police station was burnt down,
the police opened fire leading to the death of 3 people.
It was confirmed, during the attack large number of SDPI and PFI
activists were involved. SDPI is an Islamic fundamentalist political outfit of
PFI.
D.G. Halli Police station:
The Devara Jeevana Halli Police Station attempted to defuse the tension
earlier in the late evening/night around 8:30pm with the assistance of the
local community members. When one of the teams returned to the Kadu
Gondana Halli Police station limits without any information about the
accused (Sri. Naveen s/o Pavan Kumar, nephew of Akhanda Srinivasa
Murthy) the crowd forcefully entered into the station, vandalized it and even
set the Police vehicles on fire. It was informed that around 10:30 pm two
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Muslim M.L.A’s of the city had arrived at Devara jeevana Halli Police Station
to mitigate the situation but by then, violence had reportedly gotten out of
control.
Victims of Golibar:
The committee on 18-08-2020 had visited the following victims house and
consoled the bereaved family apart from hearing their version.
Yasin Pasha (21 years)
The mother of the deceased Smt.Shameen taj around 65 years widow
stated that her son was running a mutton shop and that he came home
around 9:00 pm from the work. After food he left home to watch what was
happening around and died at spot in the firing. He was a innocent boy,
unmarried and not in the habit of involving in any such disturbing events.
The residence of this deceased is located within 50 yards from Kadu Gondana
Halli Police station.
Wajid Khan (21 years).
The mother present at the house stated her son was a freelance worker
in the field of Air Condition Equipment. He came from work around evening
and went out to watch the disturbance happening around. The house of the
deceased is located within 50 yards from the police station on the main road.
She claimed that she was informed by some locals that Wajid Khan was killed
in firing and the body was at Lingarajpuarm hospital.
Mr. Sheik Siddiqui (24 years)
The mother Mrs. Shataz present at the house revealed that her son went to
see her brother who was not well and did not return home and later it was
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confirmed that he had died in the Police firing at the Devara Jeevana Halli
Police Station limits. The deceased house is located about one km from the
Devara Jeevana Halli Police Station.
The families of those killed in the firing claimed that they were simply
bystanders and did not take part in violence.
Summary of Estimated Damage:
Public property
2 - police stations – KG Halli PS - partially damaged, DJ Halli severely
damaged
Police vehicles/ Government vehicles – 36
Approximately 233 vehicles parked in the basement completely gutted
One ATM damaged
Street lights etc.,
36 government vehicles including 2 DCPs vehicles burnt completely
68 vehicles belonging to civilians parked on streets partially damaged
(windows broken, glass shattered, severe dents)
Akhanda Srinivas Murthy – house worth 3.25 crores completely gutted
Naveen’s house worth – 1.25 crore including belongings
2 bars – worth 1.20 crores completely gutted
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ANALYSIS OF THE COMMITTEE BASED ON THE OBSERVATIONS
The salient observations of the committee based on the visits and interactions
are as follows:
1. Is it rioting or mob lynching?
After careful analysis of the evidences, the committee is convinced that
the incident is more of the nature of lynching than that of rioting. It was
deposed by a witness that their houses were specifically targeted. He stated
that he was not at home on that day and had gone out for some work. His
brother, brother’s wife and his pregnant wife were at home. It was almost
10.00 pm and the mob had already started attacking near MLA Akhand
Srinvas Murthy’s house and P. Naveen Kumar’s house. His brother’s wife adds
that they were afraid when the mob had burnt Dileep Bar and restaurant
which is close to their home. It was at that time that they locked the front
door and hid in their neighbour’s hose which is behind their building. The
neighbours added that this house was specifically targeted and a local Muslim
showed the rioters this house and asked them to attack the same. The first
thing that the rioters did was to destroy the CCTV cameras so as to avoid
being captured. They stoned the windows, damaged the door and burnt bullet
two wheeler belonging to him. They also burnt a car and another bullet that
was owned by his neighbour staying in the first Floor. It is interesting to note
that other Hindu houses in the same lane were not attacked, while this house
was specifically targeted.
When the committee asked him as why his house was damaged while
the others were not, he told us about the incident that occurred on April 5 th
2020 when he had requested a Muslim family near his home to light a candle
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as a matter of gratitude to Corona Warriors which had led to quarrel resulting
in a FIR against him.
The fact that it is mob lynching can be further substantiated by the
statements recorded by other victims who in unison stated that they were
specifically targeted. It was stated before the committee that after attacking
Arun Gowda’s house, the mob attacked RajKumar’s house. In between the
two houses, there were many Muslim houses which were not attacked. The
other area that was affected by the mob is 1st Main Road, Muni Nanjappa
Garden. There are no Muslims on this road. The mob having guided by a
local, indiscriminately stoned all the vehicles that were parked on this road.
In second main road, Muni Nanjappa Garden there are many Muslim houses.
The mob has not attacked any of them. The mob opened the covers of the
vehicles in order to check the Hindu symbols before damaging them by using
rods, matches and stones.
2. It is communally motivated
The witness have deposed that all the rioters were Muslims. It can be
seen that all the accused named in the FIR belong to Muslim community.
Further the mob has attacked only Hindu houses and destroyed vehicles
belonging to Hindus. Of the seventy FIRs that were accessed by the committee
two FIRs were filed by the Muslims. While the other complaints were lodged
by Hindus. The two complaints that were lodged by the Muslims with respect
to their two wheelers being torched can be safely inferred to be a collateral
damage. In both the complaints, the victims had parked their two wheelers
outside the police station since they had to visit the police station for some
reason. The two wheelers were also caught fire when the adjacent police
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vehicles were torched by the mischievous mob. Therefore, it can be concluded
that the Muslim mob has specifically targeted the Hindus.
When the committee visited Mr. P Naveen Kumar’s house, the one of the
neighbors In here statement to the committee that the mob should shouted
communal slogans like Allah-Hu-Akbar. The journalist from Survana News
Channel, Mr. Ravi Kumar, (Crime Reporter) who was assaulted specifically
deposed that the mob shouted slogans like Islam Zindabad and Paigambar
Zindabad while beating him.
3. It is a pre-planned and organized attack
The genesis of the incident can be traced to a alleged comment made by
P. Naveen Kumar on Facebook that hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims.
A report from a Kannada daily accessed by the committee which quoted father
of Naveen Kumar that they were facing trouble since August 5th the day on
which celebrations were arranged by Naveen Kumar on the occasion of Sri
Rama Janma Bhoomi Shilanyas. Another report by a national daily points
towards the conflict between Wajid and the MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy. It
was reported that the posters stating ‘Akhanda Sirnivas Murthy Missing’ were
publicised in Pulakeshinagar constituency by Wajid from SDPI. Further on
August 9th Naveen Kumar has put up two other posts questioning weather
ones own God would be considered communal. He has even called his friends
two join him to celebrate if there were truly secular. All these incidents when
seen together indicate that the tension between the two communities had
begun prior to the day of the incident.
All the victims who interacted with the committee has stated that the
riots must have been planned atleast 15 days in advance. Arun Gowda stated
22
that initially the mob had not attacked his house. Later a local person
identified his house and got it destroyed.
Prasanna, resident of 1st Main Road Muni Nanjappa Garden stated that
he had seen strangers lurking around his road, in a suspicious manner from
about a fortnight. He said that though he got suspicious about their behavior
and the way they were observing, but did not pay much attention and thought
that they had come to buy milk and meat from a nearby shop. He went on
state that about 15 Autos belonging to Muslims would be parked everyday in
front of HKGN Auto Consultants, situated on Kavalbairsandra Main Road in
such a manner that it would create a traffic jam. He adds that the autos would
remain there till about 1.00 am at night. Despite many appeals by the locals
to park elsewhere, the Muslims never obliged. However, on 11th august 2020,
he saw that no auto was standing there even in the evening. He was surprised
to see that, however thought that the Muslim Auto Drivers have obliged. It
was on that night that all the vehicles were attacked on their street by the
unruly Muslim mob.
The statements of Prasanna point at two aspects:
(a) The event was pre-planned and was waiting to erupt .
(b) That the local Muslims were aware of the occurance of this incident.
Mr. Munegowda’s house was inspected by the Committee on the 16 th August
2020. The Committee specifically asked them if they thought that the entire
incident was preplanned . Mr. Munegowda’s son replied that he has every
reason to believe that the incident was pre-planned. He mentioned about a
Muslim House about 4-5 buildings away from his house which generally
23
parked atleast 3 cars on the road and people would always be standing near
their house. However, on the day of the incident neither a single car was
parked , nor any person was standing near their house. Similar observations
were made by Mr. RajKumar who interacted with the Committee near Arun
Gowda’s house.
Further the police have also unravelled that Muslim mob had decided
to carry out the protests during CAA protests, Shrirammandir Shilanyas.
However, they were unable to carry out the same on that day. It has also been
the opinion of certain people the incident was waiting to explode and that
Naveen Kumar’s comment is only a catalyst and cannot be attributed to be
the sole reason for riots.
24
It cannot be ignored that MLA Akhand Srinivasa Murthy’s house, K G
Halli Police Station, D J Halli Police Station , P Naveen Kumar’s House and
all the roads that would lead to the abovementioned places were blocked
simultaneously.
It was stated before the Committee by the MLA and Smt. Jayanti,
mother of P Naveen Kumar that the mob stoned their houses first time,
entered their house after a small gap of about 15 20 minutes for the second
time, looted all the valuables, broke the glasses, destroyed their Pooja rooms
and finally came back again for the third time after a small gap and torched
the entire building to ashes. All this while another mob prevented the Police
vehicle from entering the riot infected area. This kind of execution cannot be
made possible without detailed planning and thorough co-ordination.
The Committee visited Devera Jeevanahalli Police Station and K G Halli
Police station on 18th August. 2020. During our interactions with the Police
Personnel, the Committee was told that the Police believe that the entire
incident was pre-planned and well organized. They said that it would be
impossible for the Muslims to assemble in thousands of numbers in a span
on one hour well prepared with petrol bombs, huge stones and deadly
weapons. A Newspaper report also says that all the weapons used were stored
in a godown which is situated near the house of MLA Akhand Srinivas
Murthy.
25
The Committee inspected the stones that were thrown at the vehicles.
A bare perusal at the size of the stones perse is sufficient for the Committee
to believe that this targeted riot was pre-planned.
Further, a news channel has accessed a video that shows money being
distributed to the rioters. Unless the entire incident has been orchestrated at
the behest of some anti-social element, question of distribution of money
would not arise.
26
4. Popular Front of India and SDPI are involved in inciting the
incident:
The Committee accessed all 72 FIRs that have been registered by DJ Halli
and KG Halli Police Stations. The main accused in the FIRs are :
a. Abbas (A1 in FIR no.229/2020, KG Halli Police Station)
b. Fairoz (A2 in FIR no.229/2020, KG Halli Police Station)
c. Muzamil (A3 in FIR no.229/2020, KG Halli Police Station and A2 in FIR
no. 0195/2020 in DJ Halli Police Station)
d. Habeeb (A4 in FIR no.229/2020, KG Halli Police Station)
e. Peer Pasha (A5 in FIR no.229/2020, KG Halli Police Station)
f. Ziya (A6 in FIR no.229/2020, KG Halli Police Station)
g. Afnan ( A1 in FIR no. 0195/2020 in DJ Halli Police Station)
h. Syed Masood (A3 in FIR no. 0195/2020 in DJ Halli Police Station)
i. Ayaz (A4 in FIR no. 0195/2020 in DJ Halli Police Station)
j. Allabaksh (A5 in FIR no. 0195/2020 in DJ Halli Police Station)
27
In the above mentioned names of the accused, the Committee has
accessed reports that Abbas, Fairoz, Muzammil, Habeeb and Syed Masood
belong to SDPI. Muzammil Pasha was the SDPI candidate contesting the
BBMP elections in the year 2017. It is to be noted that the FIR no.
0229/2020 of KG Halli Police Station mentions as under:
“….. After this, the person who was injured by the bullet was taken to the
hospital. The People who incited the illegal assembly are Govindapura
SDPI members Abbas, Fairoz, Muzhamil, Habeeb, Peer Pasha, Ziya,
Kaleem, Karchief Sadiq, Javeed, Majju , Sadiq, Asif from Vinoba Nagar,
Syed from Govind Pura, Farhan, Masood, Saif and others. Hence a Suo-
motu Complaint has been filed against them for necessary action.”
(16th August 2020, Vijayavani Kannada Daily)
28
Further the following newspaper reports were examined by the
Committee to infer that SDPI and PFI are involved in carrying out such
riots. The Interactions of the Committee the Police also indicates the fact
that the riots have been carried out by SDPI. It can be seen that the DCP
involved in the Rudresh Murder investigation has said that Samiuddin, a
member of PFI is likely to be involved in this incident. A newspaper report
also specifically states that meetings held in SDPI office for the purposes
of planning this riot. Further, the report also states that certain weapons
were in SDPI office.
(17th August 2020, Vijayavani Kannada Daily)
29
5. Local Muslims are also involved in executing the riots:
The statements of Munegowda, Arungowda, RajKumar and Saravanan
confirm that local Muslims were involved in executing the planned and
targeted riot. As mentioned in the earlier pages of the report, Arun Gowda
deposed that his house was not affected until a local Muslim showed the
house and directed the mob to damage his house and torch his vehicles.
Further, Rajkumar also confirmed that there were two kinds of people in the
crowd, one group which was intoxicated with drugs and alcohol which
consisted of outsiders and another group was the sober group which was
guiding the first Group. In fact, Saravanan whose car and two wheeler was
burnt volunteered that he knew the miscreant and is ready to identify him.
As mentioned earlier, the fact that Muslim vehicles which were
generally parked in the area were missing on that particular day. The local
Muslims who were generally active were missing on that day. Munegowda and
Arungowda have said that their Muslim neighbors came to console them after
the incident. It is interesting to note that Smt. Kala, sister-in-law of P. Naveen
Kumar also said that neighbors had come to console them after the incident.
However when specifically questioned if she knew any of the miscreants she
said that she did not know them. When asked if the neighbors who had come
to console them could identify the miscreants she said “ It looks like they
know the miscreants. But nobody is opening their mouths.”
Out of the 72 FIRs that were accessed by the Committee, about 120
people have been specifically accused in the FIRs. It is interesting to note that
all of them are Bangaloreans and most likely to be residents of KG Halli and
DJ Halli. Therefore, the Committee is of the opinion that idea of people being
30
brought from elsewhere to Bangalore riots was deliberately plants to delay
investigation and shelter the miscreants.
It is cannot be ignored that the three deceased in the incident as a result
of Police shooting are residents of the same area and live within one km from
the Police station. It is pertinent to mention that the committee visited the
homes of the deceased and recorded statements of families of the deceased.
All their statements commonly claimed that their children were not involved
in the riots and had been out during those late hours for some personal works.
In one case, Zameen Taj stated that her son after returning from his mutton
shop had dinner and heard some commotion . Hence he had gone to see as
to what was happening and only later at night she got the news that her child
had succumbed to police bullet. In another instance, the family claims that
he is an innocent and that he was returning in from his work when he was
shot by the police. In the third case, the family has claimed that after her son
returned from work, he had dinner and left by about 10.30 – 11.00 pm at
night to visit his brother who does not keep a good health.
The Committee, having heard all their statement made an enquiry as
to where the shooting actually took place. The police submitted that they had
shot the bullets from within the building and compound of the Police station
and no shooting took place outside the Police station and that all the deceased
have been hit by the bullets in front of the police station. It has been stated
by the deceased’s families that there were thousands of people on the streets
on that particular day. In view of the fact the shooting took place within the
compound of the police station coupled with the fact that there were
thousands of people on the streets that day, the committee is of the opinion
31
that the deceased must have been a part of rioters. Therefore, the Committee
has inferred that local Muslims were a part of executing this pre-planned riot.
6. Riot against the State?
The passing of the Citizenship Amendment Act, abrogation of Article
370, abolition of Triple Talaq, Ram Janma Bhoomi judgment and finally the
Ram Mandir Shilanyas has shaken the fundamentalists among the Muslim
Community. It cannot be ignored by the Committee that the Bangalore
equivalent of Shaheen Bagh, Delhi i.e Bilal Bagh is very close to the place of
riots. A police personnel told the Committee that minor clashes have been a
routine in their Police Stations. However, the issues would get settled by
intervention of the leaders of both communities.
The Fundamentalists in the Muslim Community have been misusing
the innocent youth by using them for their personal gains and vested
interests. This pattern of attacking the State Machinery and State property is
a common pattern followed by the fundamentalist Muslims throughout the
nation. Bengaluru had drawn nation’s attention upon itself when Muslims in
Padarayanapura, Bengaluru attacked Asha workers who were looking out for
people with Corona symptoms. State Machinery was under attack in the
recent Delhi riots also.
The complaint filed by the Police personnel who were attacked clearly
states that around 200 -300 people armed with machetes, rods and other
weapons stoned the Police station with the sole intention to cause injury to
police and to damage the police station attacked the Police. They shouted
slogans ‘Kill the Police; Don’t leave the Police” etc. while attacking the Police
Station.
32
Further, the Committee have also gone through newspaper reports
regarding terror links to Bangalore Riots. The report of the intelligence
agencies about 200 ISIS terrorists hiding in Karnataka and Kerala, and
reading the links between the Al-Hind Terrorist Organisation and PFI, forces
the Committee to submit that there could be a terrorist angle to this entire
incident. It has also been reported in the Kannada Newspapers that Satellite
phones were found to be activated around the same time.
It is submitted that Fairoz Pasha had visited the Police Station to lodge
a complaint against P. Naveen Kumar for his comment against Prophet
Mohammad. After having lodged a complaint, a law abiding citizen would have
33
allowed the law to take its own course. However, when the committee
questioned as to why they had come to the Police station in the first place, a
policeman answered that they wanted the Police to hand over P. Naveen
Kumar to them so that they could kill him. In other words they intended to
use the state machinery to accomplish their vested illegal motives. This
statement of the Police could be corroborated with the statement given by P.
Naveen Kumar’s mother. They asked her to hand over P.Naveen Kumar to
them so that they could slit his throat. All these actions of the mob and its
leaders clearly indicate that they have least respect for law and that they have
no intention to follow the procedure established by law.
This intention of the mob was again corroborated by the Police
personnel of K.G.Halli. When questioned as to why the mob attacked KG Halli
Police station when their issue was constrained to D J Halli Police station, the
police clearly stated that they came to K G Halli station thinking that P.
Naveen Kumar was kept in this Station and wanted to kill him and anybody
who would come in their way of killing him.
It was planned in such a manner that all the roads that would lead to
the Police station were blocked by the rioters so as to ensure that the state
machinery would fail to take any action. The same strategy was followed as
mentioned in the earlier paragraphs during their simultaneous attack on MLA
Akhand Srinivas Murthy’s house and P Naveen Kumar’s House. The roads
leading to their homes were blocked and hence neither the fire engines nor
the Police force could reach in time to mitigate the damage. All these provide
prima facie evidence to show that the entire incident can be construed to be
34
a ‘riot against the state’. Therefore, the Committee has inferred that the entire
incident can be considered as ‘riot against state’.
7. Land Jihad?
Fear mongering amongst the majority community has always been the
strategy used by Fundamentalist Muslims. The committee has observed
similar patterns in the riots perpetrated in KG Halli and D J Halli. It was
surprising to note that though there were many houses adjacent to both the
Police stations, they have not been attacked. Though the rioter had issues
only with P Naveen Kumar and MLA Akhand Srinivassmurthy, Many other
Hindu Houses have been attacked in Kavalbairsandra.
The Committee then proceeded to study the antecedents of the homes
that have been attacked in Kavalbairsandra. It could be notice that all the
houses that have been looted and attacked belong to prominent people within
that locality. All houses including the house of an ex-serviceman and that of
a civil defense personnel in a particular road that did not have a single Muslim
house have been attacked. A lady living in 2nd Floor has been stoned when
her son shouted that the rioters not to damage his vehicle. The lady has
suffered a cut on her head and has developed neurological problems. Further,
it is interesting to note that the rioters have shouted “Andar jao, varna
marenge”, translating to “ Get inside, else we will hit you” before pelting stones
at vehicles and windows. Moreover, there are other roads in the same area
which have Muslims and Hindus staying . Such roads have not been affected
as much as this all Hindu Road.
The fact that other roads have not been attacked have been stated by
the residents who recorded their statements before the Committee. It has
35
already been mentioned in the report that the intention of the Mob was not to
injure the lives of the residents fatally but to only create terror in their minds.
To understand the mindset of the rioters, the committee tried to understand
the demographic details through the locals of the three areas,
Kavalbyrsandra, K G Halli and D J Halli. It can be seen that K G Halli and D
J Halli have Muslim Majority while Kavalbyrsandra has a Hindu majority. The
strategy used in Padarayanapura during the 1980s and 1990s cannot be
forgotten.
The fear factor in the minds of the Hindus will coerce them to give away
their homes at throw away prices and settle in another peaceful area. The
property value in such area decreases and affects the Hindus economically.
The Houses are purchased by other Muslims thereby changing the
demography of the Kavalbairsandra in the near future.
Therefore, the Committee is of the opinion that the primary intention of
the rioters has been to indulge in land jihad, scare the Hindus from the area
and spread their majoritarian status to the adjacent areas. The status of
Kashmiri Pandits and Hindus of Padarayanapura must not be forgotten
Padarayanapura in Bengaluru is not any different. Here is the case of
Padarayanapura, which has seen a huge demographic change over past few
decades. There is a huge difference in the demography prior to 1980s and
today. And, the result of this development does not seem to be encouraging
from law and order point of view. Also, this has made the life of religious
minorities in that locality miserable. The area is known as ‘Padarayanapura’
because there was Pada (feet) of Lord Hanuman in the area. Even today, the
small temple where the feet of Lord Hanuman was worshipped, almost
36
abandoned lies there as a proof of migration of devotee Hindus to other areas,
due to gradual increase of Muslim population in the locality. Off late, the area
is known as Arafat Nagar,Tippu Nagar, Mehaboob Nagar. The name
‘Padarayanapura’ is remained only in Government documents. The BBMP
ward still has this name.
During 1980-90, the percentage of Hindus in this locality was around
50 - 60%. People from Vokkaliga, Devanga, SC communities used to live here.
Politicians like Vatal Nagaraj, G Narayana from Kannada Chaluvali used to
contest from Binny Pete constituency that consists of Padarayanapura ward.
In 1978, P I D Salappa, who was known for his work for uplifting of
Pourakarmikas had won from the same constituency. During 1994, when
Bengaluru Doordarshan started Urdu news, there was a huge protest across
the state opposing it. This has lead to riots in many Muslim majority areas.
14 Hindus were murdered in this locality alone. Many Hindu houses were
stoned and set on fire. When Police took strict action against rioters and
arrested them, 3000 people had protested in front of the Police station
demanding the release of the culprits! In 2004, when Congress party workers
went for election campaigning, two groups said to be lead by Altaf and Arif
attacked them with weapons and kill two people. Recently, when health
workers and Police went to this area to seal this area to avoid spread of COVI-
19 cases to other areas, they were attacked by the local Muslims. Again, riots
erupted and public properties were destroyed and many people wounded. It
is reported that, criminals from many other places come here and take shelter
without any fear. Even Police think twice before entering this area is what we
understand. Even activities of religious extremists is going on in this locality
uncontrolled.
37
Thus, what was once a peaceful area, has become a home for criminals
and religious extremists today. Illegal activities have become a common
feature of this area. After bad experience of riots in 1994 (due to Urdu news
in DD), Hindus gradually started selling their properties and relocated to other
areas. It was said that the religious leaders in mosques encouraged the locals
to buy the properties as much as possible and committed that the registration
expenses would be born by the mosque. Today, population of Hindus has
come down to less than 5 - 10% in this area just within 20 years! Those who
are living there are also living in fear and facing troubles like eve teasing, cow
slaughtering in streets, restrictions to celebrate festivals publicly. The area
that had more than 1,200 handlooms is left with only five or six of them now.
The houses that MLA Salappa had constructed for Pourakarmikas are sold to
Muslims long back. Including 14 big mosques, there are 52 mosques today in
this small area! 10 Indonesians, 9 Kazaks and many from Tablighi Jamat who
were hiding in one of these mosques were arrested during COVID-19
pandemic.
Padarayanapura is a classic case that clearly shows how a demographic
change can turn a peaceful area into sensitive area and make it into a hub of
criminal and illegal activities. It is imperative to recall that demography of
North East Delhi changed in the 1990’s and this change in demography made
North East Delhi vulnerable to riots.
The Committee also specifically questioned regarding the video that was
circulated where it could be seen that certain Muslims formed a Human Chain
and protected the Anjaneya Swamy Temple situated on the Kavalbyrasandra
Main Road from the Muslim Rioters. It was recorded by certain victims that
38
the entire episode of protecting the temple was more about protecting
themselves as their intention was only to create terror in the minds of the
people. They did not want to cause any fatalities since they were aware that
the situation would escalate in case of attack to the temple and any fatalities.
Infact, one of the witnesses who deposed before the committee advised the
committee to question those who were seen in the temple protecting video as
they were the ones who were directing the mob to attack certain houses.
8. Involvement of women:
It has been a pattern all over India to use Muslim women and children
as shields in any kind of agitation. After the riots, on the 16th August, 2020 a
group of Muslim women tried to enter the Police stations to force the Police to
release their near and dear ones on the grounds that they were all innocent.
It was at this time that ‘the involvement of outsiders’ and that the locals were
innocent was planted. However, all the evidences accessed by the Committee
prove otherwise.
The Riots in Delhi in February 2020, Sweden riots (Malmo) and the
Oxford Street of London have all seen Muslim Women leading the protests .
Islamic mindset is seen to be following the same pattern all around the world.
In Bengaluru, women attempted to forcefully enter the police Stations to
pressurize the State . This is a simple attempt to garner sympathy. Several
improbable explanations have circulated in the media which clearly show
that the women were being misused by some entity to further its cause in the
garb of humanitarianism.
39
RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE
The Committee having made the above analysis wishes to make certain
recommendations. It can be seen that every stakeholder of the society is
required to deliver his/her role towards maintaining unity and peace in the
society. It is not under dispute that the discharge of responsibilities of each
stakeholder is different from the other. Therefore, the Committee thought it
to be helpful to customize recommendations to the State Government which
takes policy decisions, Department of Police, which primarily implements and
most importantly the Public, whose vigilance is imperative to avert any kind
of riots and mishaps.
Recommendations to the State Government.
1. All damages to the public and private properties, must be
recovered by the culprits. Speedy confiscation of the property of the
culprits and severe punishment to them will go a long way in preventing
such incidents in the future.
2. Since this is a clear case of atrocity on Scheduled caste families
and deliberate attack on Government men and machinery, the
Government should make all the possible efforts to ensure that the bail
is not granted to the accused. They should be made to be kept
permanently at the out stationed jails to avoid any local influence by
the miscreants.
3. A detailed investigation on how rioters were able to mobilize
weapons, petrol bombs in a short span of time and the nature training
given to them must be conducted. Raids must be conducted on other
40
such sensitive localities in the state to prevent any such riots in the
state in future.
4. PFI must be banned & close monitoring of activities of SDPI must
be continued. Not only banning, but a thorough investigation to be
conducted on funding model of these organizations, criminal activities
of the activists linked these organizations, links of these organizations
with the terrorist organizations and religious extremist organizations
across the country and outside the country.
5. Withdrawal of old cases, on criminals and activists of extremist
organizations like PFI and SDPI, by Governments must be stopped. This
withdrawal of cases emboldens criminals to indulge in further criminal
activities without fear. In such cases, where it found that the cases were
closed during the tenure of the Previous Government of the accused in
these FIRs, such cases must be reopened by the orders of the State.
6. The Government must form a committee to study the source of
religious extremism in the state and come up with measures to curb
the same. This helps avoid Karnataka following the trends in Jammu
and Kashmir, West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where religious
extremism is growing in an uncontrolled manner. The committee may
include expert sociologists, security experts, retired police officers and
retired defense personnel having experience of handling such
challenges. The committee must also study on how other countries in
the world, have handled the religious extremism and suggest best
practices to handle effectively.
7. A mechanism to regulate and monitor the religious schools
should be established. The syllabus taught and activities conducted by
41
these institutions, should be regulated by the Government. Syllabus in
these schools must be adapted to include modern mainstream
education, so that the children studying there can easily mingle in the
mainstream society and become employable.
8. A committee must be formed to study the demographic changes
happened over past few decades in major cities in the state. The
committee must provide recommendations to the Government to
control the rapid demographic changes leading to demographic
imbalance, which might cause similar riots in many other cities in the
state.
9. Role of illegal immigrants should be investigated in the rioting. It is
important to note that many locals including the MLA had repeatedly
mentioned that there were outsiders among the rioters, who were
unknown to the locals. This raises question about involvement of illegal
immigrants like Rohingyas or Bangladeshis. All such illegal immigrants
must be identified and deported to their home country.
10. Government must implement confidence building measures to
restore the lost confidence among common man in Kavalbyrasandra
locality. This helps them to continue staying there. Else, we may see an
exodus in the local residents in the years to come. Similar step needs
to be taken in other cities where many families are facing social
exclusion due to religious intolerance and living in fear.
11. Unauthorized places of prayer and public address systems
should be removed across the state.
12. It should be made mandatory for all religious places like prayer
halls and places of worships to give details of people who reside there.
42
And any person found residing permanently or temporarily, apart from
those listed, should be detained and enquired by the police.
13. Scientific measures should be followed while giving permission to
new places of worship and religious schools in any given locality. A
detailed assessment of the demography of the area, possibility of
increase in religious extremism, social and security impacts should be
made before giving permission.
14. Drug mafia in Bengaluru city to be curbed with iron hand. This
will help reduce the criminal activities and cuts the funding source of
the criminal network.
15. Political intervention in Police posting & closure of police of cases
must be stopped. Independent systems like State Security Commission
can be set up to bring independence in Police department. Police with
doubtful integrity should not be posted in sensitive zones.
16. Police must be given unhindered access to religious places and
continuous online monitoring should be done as there have been
instances where the sanctity of religious institutions has been misused
to store bombs and weapons.
17. With the abolition of Section 66A of Information Technology Act,
2000, a mechanism has to be evolved to prevent and prosecute
derogatory, abusive and hate content regarding any religion, race, class,
organization or sect of people.
43
Recommendations to Police department:
1. Police officers should carry out random check of ID cards of
people in sensitive areas and those who fail to produce valid documents
or oppose should be dealt strictly.
2. Police should start neighborhood watch committees and regular
meetings with those committees to gather info on ground realities.
3. Intelligence gathering mechanism must be upgraded in
communally sensitive places.
4. Hyper sensitive Police stations should have younger policemen to
handle situations boldly.
5. Strength (manpower) in all Metro city police station to be
enhanced. Today, very meager numbers are deployed in city stations.
6. Three shifts of duties to be implemented with adequate manpower
in all Metro city limits.
7. A tenure of two years to be fixed to PI, ACPs & DCPs in all metro
cities.
8. Metro city police should have dedicated Counter Intelligence (CI )
cells. CI teams have to be extensively deployed to track every miscreant
who indulge in communal violence particularly to track religious
extremist outfits like PFI. (Telangana Police have successfully developed
counter intelligence cell. Other Metro cities can emulate them)
9. Police must to initiate a Police Cyber Dome to monitor and control
over social media & including blocking of all such exchanges & jamming
internet facilities when required.
44
10. Striking Force (SF) at present consists mostly of aged persons. SF
should have youngsters below the age of 30 years. They should be well
equipped with Riot gears. They must also be given adequate Commando
training.
11. This type of incidents may re-occur anytime anywhere in the
country. To handle such incidents, there should be a Standard
Operating Procedure (SOP) in sensitive Police station limits.
12. It is recommended that the Police should also look into the flow
of funds for such activities. The responsible organization, association
or individuals must be brought under continuous financial scrutiny so
as to avert such incidents.
13. The Police must also carry out a study about potential areas
where similar riots are likely to take place. A short-term and long-term
strategy has to be evolved to address the potential threat.
45
Recommendations to the General public:
1. Have phone numbers of your nearest Police station / Inspector /
Corporator or any other public representative handy at all times
2. As a responsible citizen, alert the police and administration at the
first instance of noticing trouble or illegal gathering or mischief by anti-
social elements
3. Report suspicious activities in your vicinity / houses / religious
places to the police as soon as possible
4. Keep yourself updated about national, international events and
news that can affect our lives in any manner. Educate others about the
same.
5. Keep yourself updated about events, public speeches and rallies
in your surroundings. Report anti-national and hate speech by religious
extremists to the authorities.
6. Try to be part of RWAs / Citizen groups / forums in your locality
and keep yourself updated about the happenings there
7. Keep a watch on social media. Report inflammatory social-media
posts / content to the appropriate authorities immediately
8. Be responsible in posting content or commenting to posts on
Social Media. Avoid inflammatory and religiously hurtful content.
To sum up the entire observations and recommendations, it can be said that
the riots were a part of meticulously designed plan and were carried out
targeting the Government with the support of certain prominent individuals
and organizations. There is a likelihood that such incidents could be planned
elsewhere in the country also. It is alarming to see that the pattern that is
46
emerging all over the world with respect to riots being lead by the
fundamentalists among Muslims is similar to one another be it Bengaluru,
Delhi or Sweden. Therefore, it is necessary to further hone intelligence
generation system at various levels to monitor such activities and curb them
before they are successful in radicalizing a majority among them to stand
against universal humanitarian values of unity, peace and brotherhood.
Thanking you
Shri. Shrikant Damodar Babaladi

Retd. District Judge and
Chairman, Fact -Finding Committee
Citizens For Democracy
MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE
Shri. M. Madan Gopal

IAS (Retd) Dr. M. N. Krishnamurthy
Former Additoonal Chief Secretary, Retd. Director General of Police,
Government of Karnataka Kerala
Dr. R. Raju Dr. J. P. Prakash

IFS, (Retd) Former IRS Officer
Former Addl. PCCF
Government of Karnataka
Shri. R.K.Mattoo
Dr. M Jayappa Senior Journalist
Professor Editor, Spade A Spade
47
Shri. Santosh Thammaiah

Shri. H. M. Muniraju Journalist
Social Worker Editor,
Hosa Diganta Kannada Newspaper
Shri. Jerome Anto Smt. Kshama Nargund Banavathy

Social Worker Advocate
Dr. H .T. Aravind

Professor
48

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What was the cause of the riots according to the report?

What was the cause of the riots according to the report?

What areas and properties were targeted during the riots?

What areas and properties were targeted during the riots?

CITIZENS FOR DEMOCRACY

A REPORT OF FACT FINDING COMMITTEE

Executive Summary ………………………………………………… 2

Observations of the Committee ………………………………..….. 10

Analysis of the Observations ……………………………………..... 20

Recommendations of the Committee ……………………………… 40

Citizens for Democracy is a platform of responsible citizens committed to

Citizens for Democracy has conducted various seminars, campaigns on topics

of national and social importance. Campaigns to create awareness on

injustice done to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Political killings in

Kerala, Killings of many socio-political activists in Karnataka, religious hatred

elections in 2014 and 2019.

It is unfortunate that the city of Bengaluru had to witness riots in Kaval

Bhyrasandra area (Devera Jeevana Halli Police Station limits) of

citizens. It is imperative to survey the incident neutrally without any bias or

Democracy has formed a FACT FINDING COMMITTEE consisting of

prominent representatives of the society.

On the 11th of August, 2020, a group of about 15 to 20 Muslim youth

gathered outside Pulikeshi Nagar Congress MLA R Akhanda

Srinivasamurthy’s house in Kaval Bhyrasandra in Bengaluru to protest

gas and open fire at this unruly mob.

It is estimated that nearly 36 Government vehicles, nearly 300 private

be nearly 10-15 crores.

evidence have inferred the following.

a. That the riots were pre-planned and organised.

motive of reducing the faith of common people in the State.

execution but were also aware about it in advance.

e. Despite attempts being made to project the same as political rivalry, it

was undoubtedly communally motivated. The Committee is of the

mongering so as to change the demography and turn the area into a

Muslim majority one.

planning and execution of this incident.

Based on the above observations, the Committee mainly recommends the

have to be recovered by attaching the property of the rioters.

Therefore, it is imperative for the state to investigate the incident

holistically and not consider them to be isolated and local.

c. The funding received by individuals and religious extremist

organisations who are involved in anti-social activities must be tracked

and continuously monitored by involving the NIA.

d. Potential areas that might face such communal tensions must be

identified by the Police in advance and short-term and long-term plans

must be made to curb such tensions.

e. Cyber Dome must be established so as to ensure that Social Media is

f. It is recommended that drug menace be curbed with iron fists.

g. It is further recommended that intelligence generation mechanisms

have to be strengthened by the Police at various levels so as to prevent

the occurrence of any such riots.

h. With the abolition of Section 66A of Information Technology Act, 2000,

a mechanism has to be evolved to prevent and prosecute derogatory,

abusive and hate content targeting any religion, race, class,

organisation or sect of people.

Citizens for Democracy is a platform of responsible citizens committed to

Citizens for Democracy has conducted various seminars, campaigns on topics

of national and social importance. Campaigns to create awareness on