Threat messages engineered to trigger riots: Intel
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The threatening text messages asking people from the North-East to “leave Bengaluru before August 20” and MMS messages depicting ethnic violence in Assam have been “engineered for political or communal reasons” to trigger riots and destabilise the state, a top Intelligence source told this newspaper on Thursday, an assessment that Law minister Suresh Kumar shared.
The Intelligence Bureau and the city police are monitoring the situation and investigating the source of these mischievous messages but it seemed to be a “well-orchestrated and organised campaign” and would be difficult to trace them to their origins, the source said.
State DG-IGP Lalrokhuma Pachau held a series of meetings with senior police officers and religious and community leaders, seeking their cooperation to douse the fears of the fleeing people.
Karnataka Muslim Muttahida Mahaz (KMM) leader Masood Abdul Khader assured Mr Pachau that Muslim organisations were not behind the rumour-mongering or threats. The KMM is a conglomerate of 28 organisations including Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat-e-Ulema. Mr Khader said that while they condemned the violence against Muslims in Assam, they were not behind the alleged threats to people from the North-East in the state.
Mr Pachau outlined changes to policing in view of the situation. “From tonight, police stations in the city will be in charge of the mohallas in their jurisdiction,” Mr Pachau said. Patrolling has been stepped up and temporary check-posts set up in areas such as Viveknagar, Koramangala, Shantinagar, Whitefield and Ashoknagar. The city is home to about three lakh people from the North-East, according to the police.
SMSes triggered panic, exodus
The IB and state police are hard at work to trace the origin of the SMSes and doctored MMSes that have caused panic among the people from the north east, leading to their mass exodus over the last couple of days. Several of these messages are inflammatory in nature, showing people from the north east in poor light.
“It all started with SMSes and panic spread like wildfire. People did not verify whether the incidents mentioned were true or not,” said DCP (Intelligence), V S D'Souza, who has been appointed nodal officer to ensure the security of the people from the north east. “We have seen the content, and it’s just meant to increase communal tension, spread panic and cause fear. It is all false and baseless,” he added. City police commissioner, B G Jyothi Prakash Mirji noted that some messages were being circulated through social networking sites. “The rumours are being circulated more through social media. We have warned those spreading these rumours that they will be strictly dealt with,” he said.
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