Bengaluru: Two held for assault on Valley students

“The youths on the bikes asked the students something in Kannada which the students could not understand. There was an altercation and the youths, who were drunk, attacked the students,’’ DCP, Bengaluru north division, Chethan Singh Rathor said (File)

Two persons who in a drunken state allegedly assaulted two students from Kashmir at a bus stand in Bengaluru have been arrested. They have also been made to pay for damage to the students’ car. According to a police complaint filed by Lisan Ahmed (24), the incident occurred around 12.15 am on December 10 when he and his elder brother, who were on the way home after dinner, parked their car at a bus stand in Sanjaynagar and were talking on phone.

The complaint says four youths on two motorcycles approached them. The youths, who were drunk, asked them why they were speaking in Hindi and not in Kannada. They then attacked them and also damaged their car with stones, the complaint said.

The students called police who sent a patrol to rescue them. The attackers fled before the police arrived. Later, the police retrieved CCTV footage from the bus stand and identified those involved in the attack. One the accused has been identified as Harish, a driver, and the other as Mahesh, a designer. Two others are still absconding.

“The youths on the bikes asked the students something in Kannada which the students could not understand. There was an altercation and the youths, who were drunk, attacked the students,’’ DCP, Bengaluru north division, Chethan Singh Rathor said. “They were not attacked because they were Kashmiris. The altercation occurred because the youths were drunk and they did not understand the students,’’ he said.