Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (DV)
Mangaluru, Aug 7: A protest was held in the premises of a private hospital here on Friday August 7 after a youth who was stabbed at Sajipa Mooda near Melkar in Bantwal on the night of Thursday August 6 breathed his last.
Nasir and Mohammed Mustafa were allegedly attacked with machetes by a group of four at Sajipa Mooda late night on Thursday. They were admitted to a hospital in Mangaluru, where Nasir passed away on Friday.
It is learnt that on Thursday night, Mustafa had come back to Melkar after getting his relative admitted to a hospital in Mangaluru, and was about to catch an auto rickshaw to go home. Nasir too was waiting there as he was about to leave for his in-laws' house. As Nasir was going the same way as Mustafa, both of them got into the same auto rickshaw.
It is alleged that when the auto rickshaw reached near Shiva temple at Sajipa Mooda, two persons came in a bike and stopped the auto and asked for directions to reach some place. At the same time, two others came in another bike and allegedly pulled out Nasir and Mustafa out of the auto and abused them. They then attacked Mustafa with machetes, but despite being badly injured, he managed to escape. The assailants then brutally attacked Nasir and fled from the spot.
Meanwhile, Mustafa took refuge in a house belonging to one Anwar, who later admitted both Mustafa and Nasir to a private hospital. They were shifted to a hospital in Mangaluru for further treatment.
Nasir breathed his last on Friday while Mustafa is still in the ICU, sources said.
Soon after Nasir died, people gathered at the hospital protested against the police for not taking any action in the case. They demanded immediate arrest of the assailants and expressed concerns that such attacks have increased over the past few days due to police laxity.
Deputy commissioner A B Ibrahim and superintendent of police (SP) Dr Sharanappa visited the hospital and spoke to the protestors. The SP assured them that the accused would be arrested soon and strict action would be taken, after which the protest was withdrawn.
Meanwhile, the Bantwal unit of Popular Front of India (PFI) in a press statement condemned the assault and demanded thorough probe into the case. PFI also alleged that Sangh Parivar was behind the attack.