Three people have died in the Indian city of Bangalore after police fired on crowds protesting against an allegedly blasphemous Facebook post.
The Facebook post offensive to Muslims sparked protests in India’s tech hub on Tuesday night in which a police station was attacked, and a politician’s house and vehicles were torched.
They set fire to vehicles and attacked police officers who arrived on the scene with stones, police told BBC Hindi.
Police have also arrested the person responsible for the offensive post, and gave the first name of the accused man as Naveen and said he is the nephew of Congress politician R Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy, whose house was attacked and burned in the violence and also 110 others who were in the crowd.
City commissioner Kamal Pant said, that at least 60 policemen including senior officers were injured in the violence on Tuesday night. Curfew was also imposed in two police districts of the city, he said.
Meanwhile, city police tweeted that the situation was “under control”, adding that personnel had fired live ammunition to disperse the crowd only after using tear gas and batons first.
The deaths were confirmed by the home minister of Karnataka state of which Bangalore is the capital.
The violence started after protesters massed outside the politician’s house as well as a police station after spotting the post, which local media say has since been deleted.
Meanwhile, the lawmaker, Akhanda Srinivas Murthy, made a video appeal to protesters to stay calm and promised them justice.
“I appeal to my Muslim brethren not to fight over someone who has violated the law. Whatever be the matter, we are all brothers. Whoever is responsible we shall ensure that proper punishment is given to those responsible. I am with you,” it said.
