A youth was attacked by some goons for travelling with a girl from the Hindu community in a KSRTCbus, at Madikeri KSRTC bus stand.
Though the incident occurred on Monday night at Madikeri, the FIR was lodged at Sulliapolice station as the first altercation started at Sullia bus stand. Police said that on Monday night, Mohammed Aneef from Gandhinagar, Sullia, and a girl from another community, boarded the bus to reach Bengaluru. They did not know each other.
Since the bus was almost packed, the conductor asked them to share the same seat which could accommodate three persons. Few travellers, allegedly belonging to a saffron fringe group, raised objections to this and started a fight. They finally left when the bus staff intervened and pacified them.
However, the goons passed on the news to their counterparts in Madikeri. When the bus reached Madikeri KSRTC bus stand, the activists pulled out the boy from the bus and assaulted him.
Sullia police have registered a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 298 (uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person). The investigation is on.
