Pulakeshinagar MLA R. Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy recorded his statement in relation to the D.J. Halli violence, in which his house was set afire, with the Central Crime Branch on Wednesday.

He is learnt to have named a few local leaders from two parties as having trouble with him, but stopped short of naming them as suspects behind the violence at his residence, sources said.

This comes a day after two Congress councillors from his Assembly constituency — Sampath Raj and Abdul Raqeeb Zakir — were questioned. The councillors are expected to be questioned again shortly. Police sources said that the MLA was asked about the political situation in his constituency, whether he had any rivalries and also his relationship with his nephew P. Naveen Kumar, whose social media post triggered the riots. The police investigating the violence said the entire sequence of events — from the time a large crowd was organised outside D.J. Halli police station, which later turned violent — has more or less now been established. What has remained intriguing is the mob outside the MLA’s home. “We have recovered several WhatsApp messages from the accused, which are appeals to people from the community to gather outside the police station to demand the arrest of Naveen Kumar. But we are yet to find the answer on who organised the crowd outside the MLA’s family home,” said a senior police official.

Senior police officials said they suspect some forces may have misused the situation at the D.J. Halli police station and decided to target the MLA. The mob at the police station and the MLA’s house gathered simultaneously. Based on mobile tower locations, the police have arrested a few individuals who were involved in the violence at the MLA’s house.