[6][7] A group of Muslims, angered by a Facebook post on Muhammad allegedly shared by Akhanda Srinivas Murthy's nephew, a state legislator of the Indian National Congress, arrived at his house in protest, which later turned violent.

[17] On 11 August 2020, the nephew of an Indian National Congress state legislator Akhanda Srinivas Murthee[a] allegedly posted a derogatory remark on Facebook that targeted the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

[18] The post went viral in the area and people began gathering in front of the legislator's residence in Kaval Byrasandra in protest, demanding that the accused be arrested.

[14][20] The News Minute reported there were 17–20 Muslims protesting in front of the legislator's residence at 8:30 p.m., however within the next hour the numbers swelled to around 200, joined by people armed with sticks, petrol and kerosene cans.

[20][14] At 10:30 p.m., two other Congress state legislators Zameer Ahmed Khan and Rizwan Arshad arrived at the DJ Halli station to help subdue the situation but the violence had reportedly gotten out of control by this time.

[23] Between 11:00 p.m and 12:30 a.m, a group of Muslim youths also formed a human chain around the local temple near DJ Halli station to protect it in case of any escalation.

[15] Eventually the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) had to be called in to disperse the crowd and free the policemen trapped inside the station.

[20] According to The Hindu, the total number of participants in the mobs amounted to 2000 while the police firing at DJ Halli resulted in the death of 3 people.

[11] The Central Crime Branch DCP, Kuldeep Jain justified the police firing and stated that due process was followed.

[29] His uncle, the legislator, filed an FIR for the destruction of his ancestral house, claiming 3 crores loss, and sought police protection for himself and his family.

[39] BJP National Secretary B. L. Santhosh criticized the Congress for allegedly supporting the "right to riot" and engaging in "appeasement" (towards Muslims).

[39] Congress also criticized the Karnataka government for failing to prevent the incident, with spokesman Randeep Surjewala claiming they represented "complete failure of law and order machinery.

"[41] R. Ashoka, Revenue Minister of Karnataka, claimed the mob had "plans to move to Shivajinagar" afterwards and they had "everything they needed to create violence ready.

"[42] Karnataka tourism minister C. T. Ravi and Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya demanded compensation for damaged property be forcibly provided by known participants in the riots, a policy proposed by Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh following anti-CAA protests there.