Group of friends attacked in Kodagu over presence of 2 Muslims: Police

Madikeri police said a complaint was lodged by Nanda Krishnan (26), Mohammed Shamseer (24), Saman Sajeed (23) and two women who travelled from Mangaluru to Madikeri on a sightseeing tour in a car on Tuesday.

Three men were allegedly attacked and their two woman friends verbally abused on Tuesday by workers of a right-wing organisation while they were on an outing in Kodagu district, in a suspected case of moral policing.

Three men were allegedly attacked and their two woman friends verbally abused on Tuesday by workers of a right-wing organisation while they were on an outing in Kodagu district, in a suspected case of moral policing. (Representative Photo)

Madikeri police said a complaint was lodged by Nanda Krishnan (26), Mohammed Shamseer (24), Saman Sajeed (23) and two women who travelled from Mangaluru to Madikeri on a sightseeing tour in a car on Tuesday.

“The friends had gone to Abbey Falls in Kodagu district first. After parking their car near the location, they had hired a jeep to travel to the Mandalpatti Peak. By the time they returned, a mob of 30 people had gathered around their car and began questioning them,” said a senior police officer seeking anonymity.

According to the complaint, the mob, who identified as right-wing group workers, questioned the friends about the presence of two Muslim men in the group. In the argument that followed, the mob allegedly assaulted the three men and verbally abused the women in the group.

The tyres of the car that the group had travelled in were punctured and the pictures of the five people were clicked.

“A case on charges of wrongful restraint, intentional insult, unlawful assembly with arms, rioting, criminal intimidation and voluntarily causing hurt was registered based on the complaint. We are still looking for the suspects,” the police officer said.

In a similar incident, Bajrang Dal workers heckled pub goers in Mangaluru on July 26. The activists belonging to Bajrang Dal reportedly asked the staff at the pub in the Balmata area of Mangaluru to stop the event, alleging the students were indulging in some “illegal activities”.

Police said the Bajrang Dal men only asked the bouncers to stop the party and didn’t stop the event. However, a person familiar with the developments said the group barged into the pub and hurled abuses, forcing the organisers to stop the event.