Sampath Raj, the Congress corporator from Devara Jeevanahalli municipal ward, was arrested in Bengaluru.

Sampath Raj has been accused of conspiring to set Pulikeshinagar MLA Akhanda and his sister's house on fire.

Sampath Raj has been accused of conspiring to set Pulikeshinagar MLA Akhanda and his sister's house on fire.A Bengaluru court on November 17 remanded former Mayor R. Sampath Raj in the custody of the Central Crime Branch police for two days for interrogation on his role in the violence at D.J. Halli and K.G. Halli on the night of August 11.

Raj has been accused of conspiring and playing a part in instigating the mob to set Pulikeshinagar MLA Akhanda Sreenivasamurthy’s and his sister Jayanthi’s house on fire.

Around 3,000 people went on a rampage over a supposedly inflammatory social media post. Three people were killed in police firing, while another person died in hospital due to abdominal injuries. Raj has been absconding since mid-October after he was discharged from a private hospital where he was undergoing treatment for COVID-19, as was reported by the Hindu.

His arrest came barely three days after the High Court of Karnataka directed the CCB on November 13 to take steps to trace and arrest him. A special team tracked him down to a friend’s house in Benson Town, Pulikeshinagar.