<p>P Naveen, Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy's nephew, has apparently confessed to having uploaded the offensive Facebook post that allegedly triggered the worst riots in the city in two decades. </p>.<p>A police officer who's part of the investigation, however, insisted that the post wasn't the only trigger. Several other factors were also at play. </p>.<p>Murthy's thumping victory in the Pulakeshinagar assembly election in 2018 — he won by 81,626 votes, the highest margin for any winning candidate in the state — and his support to a woman in the BBMP election caused a churning in local politics. Naveen actively took part in the political rallies, events and other programmes organised by his uncle Murthy. This is where the SDPI, a fledgeling political party, came into the picture. </p>.<p>Naveen came on the radar of SDPI workers soon after he uploaded offensive Facebook posts on the Padarayanapura riots and the Tablighi Jamaat during the Covid lockdown. </p>.<p>Among Naveen's 5,000 plus Facebook friends and over 2,500 followers was RT Nagar resident Firoz Pasha, a member of the SDPI, who is now listed as the main suspect in the riots conspiracy. He used to promptly retort to Naveen's controversial posts. </p>.<p><strong>The genesis</strong></p>.<p>On August 5, Naveen organised a food distribution drive in Kaval Byrasandra, coinciding with the ceremony to lay the foundation stone for Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. He also posted wishes on Facebook for the temple construction. Pasha and Naveen soon got into a bitter verbal duel on Facebook. </p>.<p><strong>The trigger</strong></p>.<p>On August 11, when news channels telecast a former minister’s controversial statement on Ram Mandir, Pasha tagged Naveen to a related post and taunted him. Naveen became furious after seeing the post. He downloaded the image of a religious leader and posted it, tagging Pasha. </p>.<p>Pasha soon took a screenshot of Naveen’s post and circulated it among SDPI cadres by WhatsApp. One of the recipients was another main suspect, Muzzammil Pasha, who made the post viral. </p>.<p>Around 8:30 pm on August 11, Naveen learnt from his family members by phone that his post had created a huge controversy. On their prodding, he deleted the post, switched off his phone and gave it to a friend. His family later claimed that he had lost his phone. </p>.<p>Naveen confessed to the police that it was he who uploaded the post after Pasha taunted him. He, however, said he had nothing against Muslims, many of whom are his childhood friends.</p>
<p>P Naveen, Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy's nephew, has apparently confessed to having uploaded the offensive Facebook post that allegedly triggered the worst riots in the city in two decades. </p>.<p>A police officer who's part of the investigation, however, insisted that the post wasn't the only trigger. Several other factors were also at play. </p>.<p>Murthy's thumping victory in the Pulakeshinagar assembly election in 2018 — he won by 81,626 votes, the highest margin for any winning candidate in the state — and his support to a woman in the BBMP election caused a churning in local politics. Naveen actively took part in the political rallies, events and other programmes organised by his uncle Murthy. This is where the SDPI, a fledgeling political party, came into the picture. </p>.<p>Naveen came on the radar of SDPI workers soon after he uploaded offensive Facebook posts on the Padarayanapura riots and the Tablighi Jamaat during the Covid lockdown. </p>.<p>Among Naveen's 5,000 plus Facebook friends and over 2,500 followers was RT Nagar resident Firoz Pasha, a member of the SDPI, who is now listed as the main suspect in the riots conspiracy. He used to promptly retort to Naveen's controversial posts. </p>.<p><strong>The genesis</strong></p>.<p>On August 5, Naveen organised a food distribution drive in Kaval Byrasandra, coinciding with the ceremony to lay the foundation stone for Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. He also posted wishes on Facebook for the temple construction. Pasha and Naveen soon got into a bitter verbal duel on Facebook. </p>.<p><strong>The trigger</strong></p>.<p>On August 11, when news channels telecast a former minister’s controversial statement on Ram Mandir, Pasha tagged Naveen to a related post and taunted him. Naveen became furious after seeing the post. He downloaded the image of a religious leader and posted it, tagging Pasha. </p>.<p>Pasha soon took a screenshot of Naveen’s post and circulated it among SDPI cadres by WhatsApp. One of the recipients was another main suspect, Muzzammil Pasha, who made the post viral. </p>.<p>Around 8:30 pm on August 11, Naveen learnt from his family members by phone that his post had created a huge controversy. On their prodding, he deleted the post, switched off his phone and gave it to a friend. His family later claimed that he had lost his phone. </p>.<p>Naveen confessed to the police that it was he who uploaded the post after Pasha taunted him. He, however, said he had nothing against Muslims, many of whom are his childhood friends.</p>