Karnataka: Muslim youth killed by Bajrang Dal in Bellare

Debjit Mukherjee: An 18-year-old Muslim youth injured in an attack by members of the Hindu militant group Bajrang Dal in Karnataka’s Bellare, succumbed to his injuries in the hospital on Thursday.

The deceased youth is Masood.

A group of eight Hindu nationalists had attacked Masood on 19 July night in Vishnunagara of Kalanja village. The Muslim teenager was a resident of Mogral Puthur in Kerala’s Kasargod. As he was severely injured after he was assaulted with a soda bottle, he was shifted to a hospital in Mangaluru.

Police have arrested the accused Sunil, Sudhir, Shiva, Sadhashiv, Ranjith, Abhilash, Gym Ranjith and Bhaskar.

Masood (18) who had come to his grandfather’s house at Kalanja, Sullia a month ago had been working as a daily wager. On Tuesday, Masood was going to attend a private function. When he went to a shop, a fight ensued between one of the accused named Sudhir and Masood over a trivial reason of accidentally bumping across each other. Sudhir threatened Masood with a bottle, according to the complainant and Masood’s friend Ibrahim Shanif.

The accused Sunil and Abhilash contacted complainant Ibrahim Shanif and stated that Masood had assaulted Sudhir. On the pretext of resolving the matter amicably, the duo asked Ibrahim to come with Masood to Vishnunagara.

Accordingly, Ibrahim Shanif had gone along with Masood to Vishnunagar at around 11 PM . There, a group of eight Bajrang Dal members-Sunil, Sudhir, Shiva, Sadhashiv, Ranjith, Abhilash, Gym Ranjith and Bhaskar-brutally assaulted Masood. During the fight, Abhilash hit Masood’s head with a soda bottle.

Masood and Ibrahim both had to flee the spot in different directions. When Shanif and his friends searched for Masood, he was lying unconscious near a well.

Masood was treated in the Intensive Care Unit in a private hospital in Mangaluru and succumbed to the injuries.