The police have identified around 1,500 people who they claim wreaked havoc in the city during the violence of September 12. They have already arrested 820 persons in 204 arson cases. A dedicated team of police personnel has been deputed to investigate the arson cases.
“Now we are tracking down the others,” a senior police officer said. “We are carrying out a parallel investigation on the law and other situation. The perpetrators, when questioned, claimed that they were members of various Kannada organisations. But when we contacted these groups, their managements disowned them.”
The city police were unprepared on September 12 but are not taking any more chances. “Our main focus is to maintain law and order. We cannot have a repeat of what happened. The investigation is being carried out on a war footing,” he said.
He said the accused were identified through video footage obtained from various sources and the social media. “In some cases, we have also verified call record details of the accused to ascertain their involvement,” he added.
