Former Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, who heads the Congress’ fact-finding committee looking into the Pulakeshinagar riots, charged that the police had arrested “innocent” people including “boys as little as 10-12 years” in connection with the violence.
“Some 400 people have been arrested, including boys as little as 10-12 years of age. One father died three hours after the boy was arrested,” Parameshwara told a news conference. “One Moulvi was arrested from KJ George’s constituency (Sarvagnanagar). Why are innocents being arrested? Not just minorities, everybody is living in an atmosphere of fear,” he added.
Parameshwara, who served as Home Minister in the past, said the riot was “an absolute failure of intelligence and the police”. “Wouldn’t (the government) have the information if a police station was going to be burnt? You had no clue that people would gather?” he said.
Earlier in the day, the committee members visited riot-hit areas and held talks with stakeholders there. “We are yet to talk to many more people, after which we will submit a report to the KPCC president,” he said. “Prima facie, it looks like the violence was triggered by a social media post on Prophet Mohammed by one Naveen.”
Parameshwara also took exception to some ministers blaming the Congress for the incident. “On what basis are they saying all that? Why will we burn down the house of our own MLA? Nobody is saying action should not be taken against those involved in arson. We’ll be the last ones to protect them,” he said, demanding a judicial inquiry by a sitting High Court judge.
“The BJP is talking about a Dalit MLA being attacked. A Dalit MLA should’ve been given protection by the BJP government,” Parameshwara said.