How violence unfolded
Armed with machetes, swords and sticks, mob went on the rampage for about five hours
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
10 August Pulakeshi Nagar Congress MLA’s nephew Naveen allegedly responds to a Hinduphobic post on FB with an alleged derogatory post on prophet of a community.
11 August Tuesday was also Janamashtami a religious festival of the majority community
4pm The alleged derogatory post on prophet by now goes viral with some self-styled minority community leaders asking members to assemble near the DJ Halli police station to protest. Appeal goes viral on social media
6.30 pm A mob starts slowly swelling with some community members also assembling in front of the MLA’s house in Kaval Byrasandra just a few kms away from the DJ Halli police station
7.30 pm Community members also assemble in the nearby KG Halli police station. Some Facebook posts appeal for greater number of people to come so that those who have insulted ‘Nabi’ (prophet) and Pygambar can be taught a lesson
8.45 pm Slogans of “Nara-e-Takbir, Allahu Akbar” start rending in the air as increasingly the assembled people get more agitated.
9 .15 pm Father of Naveen comes to DJ Halli police station and tells cops that his son’s phone had been lost around
4 pm the previous day and somebody seems to have hacked into his account and posted the alleged derogatory post.
9.45 pm Police efforts to talk to community elders and restore peace fail as they demand that the alleged culprit be handed over to them to ensure ‘justice’ and he is taught a ‘lesson’
10.15 to 10.30 pm Surging highly emotive and restive crowd start vandalizing vehicles parked in the police stations and nearby. Simultaneously mob attacks and petrol bombs are hurled at the MLA’s house which subsequently is partly burnt
11.30 pm Mob runs wild burning anything in sight and attacking those opposing with lathis, stones, bricks, machetes. Some of that is captured in CCTV footage before the cameras are destroyed
12.10 Mobs barge into the police stations, assault police personnel. Cops call seniors and plead to be allowed to defend themselves (a clip of the wireless chat on this has been heard by HT)
12.20 Unable to coax the mob back verbally either by pleading or threats, cops try to lathicharge even as they call for backup forces
12.45 (00.45) hrs Cops open fire even as additional forces are rushed from other stations across the city Home minister Basvaraj Bommai personally reviews the situation. Bangalore city commissioner Kamal Pant rushes in with additional forces
15.30 hours It has taken the cops nearly three and half hours to fully restore peace, about 100 people are initially detained (the number goes up later in the day). Part of the difficulty is also because the areas have very narrow roads and are dotted with slums. So manevuring vehicles with large number of personnel become a challenge but police eventually restore an uneasy peace.