In what is turning out to be a series of escalating incidents between the Congress and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) in Bantwal, two SDPI activists have accused Congress workers of assaulting them Sunday evening. This follows the attack on an auto driver, a Congress worker, allegedly by SDPI workers on Thursday.
According to Bantwal Town Police, around 6 p.m. on Sunday, 11 men — all allegedly Congress workers with the victim identifying Rehman Melkar as one of them — assaulted Safiulla in his house at B. Mooda village near B.C. Road, Kaikamba. He sustained minor injuries.
An hour later, the same gang allegedly assaulted Riyaz (23) in his brother’s shop in the same village. Riyaz claimed that the men “threatened to kill him”, before attacking him. He suffered injuries to his head.
The police said the accused belong to the same community, and attack was apparently in retaliation to the assault on the autorickshaw driver. No arrests have been made so far, said the police. On Thursday, Congress worker Adam Palla (33), a resident of Shanthi Angadi, was assaulted with rods by four men. Palla claimed the men were SDPI members and “settling scores”.
