BENGALURU: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) on Wednesday arrested the personal assistant of Devara Jeevana Halli BBMP ward corporator and former Mayor R Sampath Raj in connection with the riots of August 11 night. Arun Kumar was arrested based on phone call records which reportedly showed that he had made over 10 calls from his phone to Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) leader Muzammil Pasha and others, who are already arrested.
City Police Commissioner Kamal Pant visited DJ Halli and KG Halli police stations and held a review meeting with officers. He reportedly took details of the FIRs registered and arrests made so far. He advised senior officers to assign inspectors from other police stations and entrust them with investigation of 2-3 cases each, as up to 64 FIRs have been registered. Further, he is said to have asked them to conduct a thorough enquiry and collect clinching evidence.
B’luru cops investigate funding of NGO
“Arun Kumar was picked up based on the call detail records of the arrested persons, as they had received several calls during the riots from his phone number. Sampath Raj was also summoned and questioned in connection with the violence. As we have evidence that Arun had supported the riots, he has been arrested. He will be produced before a magistrate on Thursday,” a police officer said.
Police said the number of arrests in connection with the riots has crossed 400, and more will be made. About five people were arrested based on the information provided by Wajid Pasha, the president of Karnataka Tippu Tiger Welfare Trust and a member of JDS party, on Tuesday and Wednesday, and it is said that they played a key role in the riots. Meanwhile, the Anti- Terrorist Cell continued its interrogation of Samiuddin, a suspected member of Al-Hind, a terror outfit whose module was busted last year in Bengaluru.
The officers are probing the activities of an NGO run by him on suspicion that it was receiving foreign funds. “It is found that he had set up the NGO a few years ago and it was receiving funds from abroad. We are investigating what the area of work of the NGO was, who funded it, and for what purpose the money was being used,” an official said.