Bengaluru, Sep 23 (IANS): National Intelligence Agency (NIA) sleuths, in a joint operation with Karnataka Police, arrested one of the prime accused in the sensational DJ Halli and K G Halli riots case in which the house of a MLA and a police station were set on fire in August last year, sources said on Wednesday.

The accused was identified as Tabrez (35), a resident of Old Bengaluru Layout, who live telecast the riots to incite further violence.

On August 11, 2020, a mob, protesting against the alleged derogatory social media post about Prophet Mohammad on Facebook, had attacked the police station and burnt police vehicles. It also damaged public as well as private properties.

Investigation has revealed that Tabrez is a member of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), a political outfit of Popular Front of India (PFI) and was involved in hatching the conspiracy to attack the DJ Halli police station and had instigated many others on What App groups. He was also found involved in burning vehicles and damaging public and private properties.

After conducting investigations, the NIA filed a charge sheet against 109 accused on February 5, 2021 before the NIA special court.