Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said that the State government was contemplating recovering the cost of damage caused to public property during the recent rioting in Bengaluru by those involved in them, or seize their property if they failed to pay.
Speaking to presspersons in Haveri on Saturday after participating in the Independence Day celebrations, Mr. Bommai said that the investigation into the possible conspiracy behind the rioting was on and the truth would come out soon.
Regarding a query on whether the government was contemplating following the Uttar Pradesh model on recovering the losses from those responsible, Mr. Bommai said that the Supreme Court had given guidelines on the issue. “Accordingly we have begun the work on identifying the rioters who had damaged public property.”
The Home Minister said that as the Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivasmurthy had sought protection, he had given directions to the officials.
On the notice given to Congress councillor and subsequent comment of KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar, the Home Minister said that he believed Mr. Shivakumar knew about the law of the land. “As per law notices are issued to those identified as involved in the riots. If he has not committed any wrong, then why should he be afraid? There is no question of blackmail. As per law it is natural to issue notices to those who found to have been involved in a case”, he said.
Meeting
Regarding the spread of hate messages on social media, the Home Minister said that it had been decided to convene a meeting of heads of social networking platforms to discuss the issue. “Shortly a meeting of heads of social networking platforms including WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram and others will be called in Bengaluru. We will discuss whether it would be possible to stop such hate messages or misleading messages that can cause social unrest”, he said.