North-east Students Attacked in Drunken Brawl: Cops

BANGALORE : The Kothanur police have arrested three people who allegedly targeted and assaulted three college students from Manipur who were studying in the city.

The incident took place on Tuesday night when Michael Lamjathang Haokip (26), Ngamkholen Haokip (28) and Rocky Kipgen (25) were eating at a roadside eatery in Kothanur. The accused Arun Kumar (26), James (24) and Karunakar (25), who were allegedly drunk, were also eating at the same place.

While at the eatery, the accused asked the three students, in Kannada, to keep their voices down. “They could not understand Kannada and replied in English. The two groups continued arguing and neither could understand each other. Soon, this escalated into a drunken brawl with the accused assaulting Michael and his friends,” DCP (North East) Vikas Kumar said. On receiving informaton, police reached the eatery and picked up all those involved, he said.

According to Vikas Kumar, “The incident was not racially motivated and was a drunken brawl that started of as a verbal duel and escalated into a physical fight.”

The three North-east students were sent to a local hospital for treatment.

Police have registered a case under Section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous means), 506 (criminal intimidation), 504 (intentional insult with intention to provoke breach of peace), read with Section 34 IPC (acts done by several persons in futherance of a common intention).

‘A Racial Attack’

According to Michael Haokip, the three accused, for no reason, picked a fight with them. “When we were talking among ourselves, they demanded that we should talk in Kannada when in Karnataka If not, we should go back to China,” Michael recalled.

“I saw a friend passing by on a motorbike and, in an attempt to get away from the attacks, I got on his bike. But some other friends of the attackers came on a bike and crashed into our bike. I ran away but the crowd caught my friend and beat him up. I saw a patrol vehicle nearby and brought them to the spot, from where my friend was rescued and the three were detained,” he said.