Karnataka   

Victory celebrations turn violent in Karnataka village

MANGALORE: A group of people celebrating the victory of Nalin Kumar Kateel of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Lok Sabha election allegedly barged into and ransacked houses of four Muslim families and assaulted many people at Nettrakere in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada district on Saturday evening.

A pregnant woman was also targeted by the mob. The attackers allegedly took away gold jewellery and cash from the houses.

Three persons who sustained injuries have been admitted to a hospital here.

Aboobaker, a shopkeeper, was passing by Navodaya Mitra Kala Vrunda building where a group of people was bursting crackers and dancing. Damodar and Santu, who were in the group, allegedly caught him by the collar without any provocation and accused him of making false claim that a borewell had been sunk in the area by a Congress leader, according to Mr. Aboobaker.

When Mr. Aboobaker managed wriggle himself out of their clutches and was running towards the house of his relative Shamshir, around 50 to 60 people came after him.

Mr. Aboobaker told The Hindu that Mr. Shamishir locked the front door of the house as soon as he went in. But the BJP supporters allegedly broke the back door and entered the house.

“They carried lathis, soda bottles, cricket bats and cycle chains,” Mr. Shamshir said. “They damaged the refrigerator, TV, voltage stabiliser, a fan and an emergency light and attacked me and my uncle (Mr. Aboobaker),” he said showing a bruise on his thigh.

When Mr. Shamshir and Mr. Aboobaker ran towards houses of Shameem and Imtiyaz, the attackers allegedly went after them.

Mr. Aboobaker managed to escape from the locality.

The attackers reportedly caught hold of Mr. Imtiyaz and Mr. Shameem and his brother, Mohammaed Haneef, and started beating them, Mr. Aboobaker said. They also damaged a TV, a refrigerator and an aquarium in Mr. Shameem’s house, he alleged.

“They attacked me with a rod and smashed my leg with a big stone. They also assaulted Mr. Haneef and Mr. Imityaz,” Mr. Shameem told The Hindu from the hospital bed. Mr. Haneef and Mr. Imityaz have also been admitted to the hospital.

Mr. Shameem’s mother-in-law, Asiyamma, said: “They kicked me on my chest.” She alleged that the attackers threw stones and soda bottles at her neighbours’ houses when she went their to save herself from them.

Shameem’s sister who is pregnant, said that one of the attackers threw a tile on her stomach from a window. Her relative Ayesha said that the attackers threatened to rape women if they came out of the houses.

Meanwhile, the Bantwal police have registered a case under various sections of the IPC. Superintendent of Police A.S. Rao said four persons have been arrested in this regard.

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