Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal (SP)

Bantwal, Mar 31: In an accident which occurred at Dasakody near Kalladka on the night of Saturday March 29, a Tata Sumo vehicle was intercepted by a gang, which later torched it. Tata Sumo driver, and co-passengers, Irfan (21), Asban, Afreed, and Latif, were beaten up. All of them got themselves admitted into a private hospital in Mangalore.

When Tata Sumo vehicle carrying the above four persons was moving towards Mani at around 9.30 pm on Saturday, a pickup vehicle coming from the opposite direction swerved violently before brushing it on one side. Four persons, who got down from the pickup vehicle then picked up fight with those in Tata Sumo and assaulted them. Irfan, in a complaint filed with the town police station here, said that the occupants of Tata Sumo, taken aback by the sudden violence, ran away towards the hilly areas nearby, after abandoning their vehicle. They said that the youth had driven off their vehicle towards Mani thereafter. “When my father, Abdul Sattar, visited the spot late in the night, he saw that the vehicle had been brought back to the spot of the accident and burnt down there,” he explained.

The policemen have removed the vehicle from its position and parked it in front of the police station. At the same time, there are rumours that cattle was being illegally transported in Tata Sumo, and that after this information reached some youth, they chased the vehicle. After intercepting Tata Sumo, these youngsters reportedly transported cattle to another spot, before bringing the vehicle back to Dasakody and torching it, it is claimed. However, no complaint about illegal cattle trafficking has been filed.