Mysuru, Feb 14 (IANS): The number of arrests in the Karnataka police station attack case rose to 16 on Friday while 1,000 people were booked in this connection, police sources said.
Police sources said that many more arrests are likely as the identity and locations of the accused persons were being tracked. The accused have disappeared leaving behind their mobile phones at their residences.
The arrested accused are remanded to the judicial custody.
The police identified over 100 accused persons through CCTV footage and launched a hunt for them.
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Meanwhile, the local court will take up the bail petition filed by Satish aka Panduranga, who had put up the controversial social media post resulting in the violence and rioting, for the hearing on Friday.
The court has asked the authorities to produce the accused, presently in judicial custody, before the court today.
Earlier, Karnataka Police had detained Satish aka Panduranga, a resident of Kalyannagar in Mysuru, in connection with a controversial social media post making communal comments against a particular community while celebrating the defeat of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Delhi Assembly elections which triggered tension in Mysuru city.
The accused had put up a post ridiculing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, former Chief Ministers Akhilesh Yadav and Arvind Kejriwal. The accused allegedly further made provocative communal statements against a particular religious group. The post went viral on social media on Monday evening.
By late Monday night, a group belonging to the minority community gathered in front of the Udayagiri police station demanding action against the accused person.
Although the police tried to pacify the crowd and even roped in religious leaders who requested them to calm down, the situation turned violent and the crowd started pelting stones at the police station.
The mob also attacked the official vehicle of the DCP. They raised slogans and when the situation went out of control, the police resorted to lathi-charge and later fired teargas. Additional police forces were called and the senior police officers along with local political leaders appealed to the crowd assuring them that action would be taken against the accused person.
Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara on Thursday reiterated that ruthless action would be initiated against rioters in the case and more arrests would be made.
Karnataka BJP has urged that at this moment, all parties must come together and consider the necessary measures to safeguard internal security. The police system, which gives protection, must be given moral support.