Senior Congress leader and former Mayor of Bengaluru Sampath Raj who was on the run in a case related to communal riots in which he was named as a key accused was finally arrested on Monday by the City Crime Branch police.
“We have finally managed to arrest him following clues given by his aide Riyazuddin. We will provide details on Tuesday at a news conference,” a senior CCB official said.
On August 11, an angry mob enraged over an alleged insult to the prophet had burnt down more than 60 vehicles as well as DJ Halli and KG Halli police stations apart from the house of Congress legislator Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy.
In the subsequent police firing three people were killed. More than 377 people were arrested for the violence and a preliminary charge sheet filed by the police in the case said that intra-party rivalry within Congress was one of the key reasons for riots. Both Sampath Raj and Abdul Zakir, another Congress corporator were named among the key accused in the charge sheet.
However, Raj who had claimed to be under treatment for Covid-19 at the Baptist hospital fled from the facility when the police went to take him into custody.
{{/usCountry}}However, Raj who had claimed to be under treatment for Covid-19 at the Baptist hospital fled from the facility when the police went to take him into custody.
{{/usCountry}}On Monday afternoon Riyazuddin, a key aide of Raj, had been arrested for aiding and abetting his escape and subsequent flight.
On November 13, the Karnataka High Court had issued a non-bailable warrant for Sampath Raj. Home minister Basavaraj Bommai had appealed to the senior Congressman to surrender or that the law would take its course.