Three Muslims martyred in India's Bengaluru as Facebook post sparks clashes

BENGALURU (Reuters) – At least three Muslims were martyred overnight after an offensive Facebook post sparked protests in the Indian city of Bengaluru. Police officers opened fire on the protesters, martyring three of them. “The police had to resort to firing and three people died,” Police Commissioner Kamal Pant said, adding that 110 people had been arrested for alleged vandalism and attacking the police. A police official said an emergency law prohibiting gatherings had been imposed in Bengaluru, a city of 12 million people best known as India’s Silicon Valley. Pant said the person responsible for the offensive post had been arrested. “What was written is the working of a sick mind with an intention to create violence,” Congress Party lawmaker Dinesh Gundu Rao said on Twitter. “It is highly objectionable and such statements about any person revered by any community needs to be handled in the strictest way possible by the authorities.” Police gave the first name of the accused man as Naveen, and said he is the nephew of another Congress politician, whose house was attacked and burnt in the violence. The politician, R. Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy, appealed for calm in a video message carried by media. “We’re all brothers. Whatever crime has been committed, let the law teach them a lesson. I appeal to our Muslim brothers and everyone else to maintain peace,” Murthy said.