Mescom bill defaulter assaults lineman, arrested

Mangaluru: A Mescom lineman was assaulted for disconnecting the power supply of a consumer, who had not paid electricity bills, late on Thursday. Junior lineman Dundappa Somappa Jangappagola,28, a resident of Jainpura village of Babaleshwara taluk in Vijayapura district, was allegedly assaulted by Rijesh of Ajakuri Mane in Dharmasthala.
Mescom lineman Umesh Ainapur had disconnected the power supply to the house of Kanthu Poojari of Muddige in Hathyadka village, for not paying the electricity bill for five to six months. Umesh had disconnected the power supply, as per the directions of his superiors. Later, the family members of Poojari paid the dues at the Ujire sub-division of Mescom, and following this, Umesh had restored the power supply to the house.
In a complaint, Dundappa has stated that he met his colleagues Umesh Ainapur, Anwar, Umesh B and Ashok Rathod at 9.12pm near a shop at Kokkada on Thursday. While they were talking, the accused Rijesh reached the place, and enquired about Umesh. Later, the accused started hurling abuses at Umesh, for disconnecting the power supply to his relative’s house. The accused held Umesh by his neck, and tried to assault him with a soda bottle. Dundappa and other colleagues tried to prevent the accused from assaulting Umesh. Meanwhile, the accused assaulted Dundappa on his head from behind, by using the soda bottle. The accused also threatened to murder him, if the power supply was disconnected again.
Dundappa, who sustained severe injuries on his head, was shifted to the Belthangady Government Hospital. Dharmasthala police have arrested Rijesh, and registered a case under IPC sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), against him.
Man loses Rs 5.35 lakh
in online fraud
A resident of Mangaluru city has lost Rs 5.35 lakh in an online banking fraud recently. The victim stated in his complaint, that he had received a call from a stranger, who introduced himself as the brother of his batchmate at Banaras Hindu University. The caller said that he required Rs 5 lakh for his brother’s surgery. The victim trusted the caller, and gave the OTP number for the transaction, from his bank account in Panaji, after which the money was transferred out of his account. A case has been registered in this regard.