Bengaluru riots: NIA grills Congress MLAs Zameer Ahmed Khan, Rizwan Arshad

The NIA probing the August 11 violence in Bengaluru over an alleged inflammatory social media post has questioned two Congress MLAs, Zameer Ahmed Khan and Rizwan Arshad, who were present at the spot on the day of the incident.

Bengaluru: The NIA investigating the August 11 violence in Bengaluru over an alleged inflammatory social media post has questioned two Congress MLAs Zameer Ahmed Khan and Rizwan Arshad.

Based on sources the MLAs were interrogated separately for two hours by the NIA.

It is reported that both Zameer Ahmed Khan and Rizwan Arshad were present at the spot on that day.

Speaking to the media Zameer Khan said “Yes, me and Rizwan Arshad were summoned yesterday and questioned in connection with the violence. Since we were there on August 11 night from 9:30pm to about 1am, they wanted to ascertain if we knew who had instigated the mob”.

The Chamarajpet MLA said the NIA officials have not told them anything about appearing before the agency again. The National Investigation Agency has arrested Sayed Saddiq Ali in connection with the violence.

Besides the NIA, the Central Crime Branch of Bengaluru city police is also probing the case in a coordinated manner, said police sources.

The CCB had on Monday submitted an 850-page preliminary charge sheet in a city court, naming former Congress mayor R Sampath Raj and a sitting Congress corporator Abdul Rakeeb Zakir as accused.

Three people were killed after police opened fire on the night of August 11 to quell a mob that went on a rampage in a city locality, irked over a social media post allegedly put out by a Congress legislator’s relative.