Ex Congress Mayor named accused in Bengaluru violence case
Bengaluru: The Central Crime Branch, probing the violence here over an 'inflammatory' social media post, has named former Mayor and sitting Congress corporator R Sampath Raj as one of the accused in the case, police said on Tuesday.
"He (Sampath Raj) has been named as one of the accused in the DJ halli and KG halli violence," a top police officer investigating the case told PTI.
According to the official, he was amongst those who had information about the violence and did not share it with the police.
Police had twice questioned him for several hours along with Pulakeshinagar Congress corporator Abdul Rakeeb Zakir, but have not arrested them yet.
It is not known whether Zakir is also an accused in the case.
Sampath Raj's personal assistant Arun Kumar was arrested earlier for allegedly remaining in touch with the ring leaders of the Bengaluru violence.
Over 3,000 people went on a rampage on August 11 torching the residences of Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy, his sister Jayanthi in the city over an inflammatory social media post by the relative of the legislator.
The irate mob then set the DJ Halli and KG Halli police stations on fire over suspicion that the relative was in the lockup there. The vandals damaged public and private properties and set many vehicles on fire.
To control the angry crowd, police had opened fire killing three people on the spot while the fourth allegedly involved in the violence died in a hospital.
So far, 421 people have been arrested, including the Social Democratic Party of India leader Muzammil Pasha. This apart, the National Investigation Agency is also investigating the matter and has nabbed the prime accused of the case.
Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai had claimed that the internal strife in the Congress coupled with the upcoming BBMP (city corporation) elections had resulted in the violence in Pulakeshinagar.
Refuting Bommai's statement, the state Congress chief DK Shivakumar had charged the government with trying to 'cover up' its failure to prevent the riots by giving misleading statements.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
