Angered by a Facebook post supporting the Pakistan army, a mob of around 10 members vandalised the Plaza Bakery in Madiwala in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Plaza bakery is run by a man called Muneer. Three days ago, when wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman was in the custody of Pakistan, Muneer’s brother Abdul Saleem allegedly added a ‘I stand with Pakistan Army’ filter to his Facebook profile picture. It is unclear if he put up a status in addition to changing the filter. The filter has the image of an armed Pakistan soldier. The post went viral, after which the bakery – located on 4th Link Road in Madiwala – was attacked.
While neither Abdul nor Muneer were at the bakery at the time, the mob broke the sign board and showcase of the bakery, police said. “The building owner Arasappa tried to reason with the mob and stop the attack by saying that the bakery owners had taken the space on rent, but the group the group did not listen," explained a police official at Madiwala police station.
Madiwala police have registered a case of rioting under Section 146 of the IPC against the mob based on a complaint by Arasappa. Police have also filed a suo motu complaint against Abdul Saleem for allegedly provoking the public, under IPC sections 124A (Sedition), 507 (Criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication), 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth), and 155 (Liability of person for whose benefit riot is committed).
So far, no arrests have been made in either case. None of the members of the group that attacked the bakery have been identified yet, the police said. Meanwhile, they are searching for Abdul in Kannur in Kerala, where he hails from.
Meanwhile in Kerala, Abdul’s uninhabited ancestral house in Thalamunda, Kannur, has been vandalised by unknown persons.
“We investigated the issue and found that a mob had attacked Abdul’s house in Thalamunda a few days ago. This is his ancestral house and no one lives there. We haven’t received a complaint against the riots from any of his family members yet. Saleem has been living in Bengaluru for the last 20 years and does not visit Kerala often. The Kannur police are not involved in investigating the case,” Chakkalakkal station SI Renjith told TNM.