MANGALURU: A group of Bajrang Dal men allegedly attacked and stabbed a man, who was travelling to Bengaluru in a private bus along with his female friend, near Pumpwell here on Thursday night. The Mangaluru city police arrested four members of the Bajrang Dal on Friday and booked them for rioting, promoting enmity between communities, assault and attempt to murder. They were later produced before a local court.
Mangaluru City Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar told the media said that Aswid Ansar Mohammed and his female friend Ashwini Shanubhag, who were classmates earlier, were heading to Bengaluru in search of a job.
“The incident occurred around 9.30 pm on Thursday when a group of Bajrang Dal members stopped the bus in which the two were travelling, and assaulted and stabbed the man. The woman, aged 23, also has suffered injuries,” the commissioner said.
The arrested are Balachandra (28) from Attavar, Dhanush Bhandary (25) from Kanduka, Jayaprashanth (27) from Shaktinagar and Anil Kumar (38) from Urwa. Dhanush, a history-sheeter, is facing four cases of murder. “In the last three months, as many as four such cases of attack have taken place. We are investigating into who instigated them to assault the duo,” the police commissioner said.
Woman has filed complaint against attackers: Police
The police commissioner also revealed that the woman has filed a complaint with Kankanady police and the duo knew each other for many years. “The woman, who is a graduate, has stated that she was looking for a digital marketing job in Bengaluru and hence, she had asked her friend to travel along with her. The attackers knew the woman and had seen the duo together many times. We will also check CCTV footage from the place where the incident occurred to identify the attackers,” he added.
To prevent such incidents in the future, additional police personnel will be deployed in public places, especially at tourist spots, beaches and bus stations. “Police patrolling and the Abbakka team will be vigilant to ensure the safety of people who travel late in the evening and at night,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sunil K R, regional connvener of Bajrang Dal, defended the attack and said that they did it to prevent a Hindu girl from falling prey to ‘love jihad’. But he denied their role in stabbing and claimed that one of the onlookers, who was enraged, was responsible for it.
BAJRANG DAL CALLS FOR LAW AGAINST ‘LOVE JIHAD’
MANGALURU: Bajrang Dal has demanded that the State government bring in a law against ‘love jihad’, alleging that cases of trapping ‘Hindu’ women were on the rise. Addressing a press conference, Sunil K R, regional convenor of the outfit, said that for the past 6 months, Hindu girls who fell prey to ‘love jihad’ had been converted to Islam.
Regarding the incident that occurred on Thursday night, in which a man was stabbed, Sunil said that the police have booked false cases against Bajrang Dal members.
“None of our members stabbed him. He was stabbed by an angry member of the general public. Our responsibility is to rescue girls from our community.”