Four killed in Bangalore riots

Four people were killed, two in police firing and two in widespread violence and arson sparked off by a dispute over a place of worship, in Bangalore on Wednesday night.

Briefing the media on Thursday, Minister of State for Home Roshan Baig and Director General of Police T Srinivasulu said the situation was now peaceful.

Mobs torched 12 city transport service buses, 31 other vehicles, two petrol bunks and six shops till midnight.

Baig said 46 people had been arrested in connection with the incidents.

Police Commissioner L Revanasiddhaiah said curfew has been clamped, and the Rapid Action Force deployed, in nine police station limits.

The trouble started after a group of Muslims demolished a partly-destroyed stone structure in the Idgah maidan which had been causing a traffic bottleneck for decades. Earlier attempts to remove the structure had been met with threats of communal violence.

Following the demolition (reportedly ordered by mosque authorities), an enraged mob started throwing stones and ransacking shops in the area. Soon, it escalated into full-fledged violence, forcing the police to open fire.

The violence soon spread to the sensitive areas of the city, including Tilaknagar and Bannerghatta road where several government and private houses were damaged in stone throwing.

Among the dead was a police constable. He died at the Nimhans hospital when a violent mob attacked him with long knives. In another incident, a pregnant woman, who was being transported to the hospital, died when her husband panicked and crashed the car into a gate in Jayanagar.

The police said 16 cops were among the 33 people injured. Assistant Commissioner of Police B Shivalingaiah and Circle Inspector K N Yogappa were seriously injured in separate mob attacks.

UNI