A day after the Indiranagar outlet of Karachi Bakery in Bengaluru was forced to cover up the word ‘Karachi’ on its main name board by a mob, police have arrested nine persons in connection with the incident. Police are probing others who were also involved in the incident.
The Hindu reported that those arrested were identified via CCTV footage and were residents of Halasuru and neighbouring areas. The accused have been identified as Babaji, Srihari, Praveen, Sreeyappa, Shivakumar, Gunashekar, Lakshman, Sanjay and Naveen, all of them between the ages of 30 to 35. Deccan Herald reported they have been booked for rioting and criminal breach of trust.
The arrested men reportedly claimed they were social workers and said that the act was a protest over the Pulwama terror incident. Since then, police have arranged security in front of the shop and other sensitive areas.
Speaking to TNM, DCP East Rahul Singh confirmed that the nine accused were in police custody.
TNM had reported how the mob had on Friday evening insisted that the establishment changes its name with reference to Pakistan, in the wake of the terror attack in Kashmir’s Pulwama that killed 49 CRPF jawans. The staff, fearing repercussions, went on to cover that portion of the name and also put up the Indian national flag on their building. There was no violence or damage to property, according to the proprietors.
“The mob stayed for about half an hour. They demanded that we change the name. The men claimed to know people in the army. They thought we are from Pakistan. But we have been using this name for the last 53 years. The owners are Hindus; only the name is Karachi bakery. To satisfy them, we put up the Indian flag,” the store manager had told TNM.
Incidentally, the incident at Karachi Bakery took place on the same day that the Supreme Court ordered the central and the state governments to act against the boycott of Kashmiri establishments and attacks on Kashmiris who are away in other states for studies and work.