Benkanhalli Gram Panchayat vice-president Mohan Rama Sambrekar (elected from Ward No 9) and his wife Sunita were arrested by the Camp Police for allegedly assaulting the family of a woman member of the panchayat late on Tuesday night. About 20 other accused are stated to be absconding.
The Sambrekars allegedly led a group of over 20 youth and started throwing stones at the house of Saherbanu Alisab Hukkeri (elected from Ward No 10) in Ganeshpur at about 10 p.m. They broke the windowpanes and forcibly entered the house shouting and hurling abuses at Ms. Hukkeri. “We were shocked and immediately shifted my mother to another room to ensure her safety, but they started hitting me and my father; we suffered head injuries,” said Ayub, son of the Hukkeri couple, on Wednesday. He said that they rushed to the civil hospital for medical treatment and also registered a complaint with the police at the hospital itself, following which the police arrested the Sambrekars immediately but about 20 others went absconding.
He said that though Mr. Sambrekar had threatened the Hukkeri family on various occasions over certain issues concerning development works in the Ganeshpur area, it was for the first time that he led a personal attack. Though Ms. Hukkeri was let off, Mr. Sambrekar carried a knife and he threatened to kill him (Ayub) first and then his mother. “My mother is frightened and fears that he (Mr. Sambrekar) would attack them again after coming out on bail,” he said.
He said that the reason for the assault was that Ms. Hukkeri got street-lamps installed near a Shiva temple in Saraswati Nagar between Ward Nos. 9 and 10 in Ganeshpur about two months ago, as the residents of the locality had been demanding street-lamps for long.
Enraged by this, Mr. Sambrekar ensured that the street-lamps were removed. However, Ms. Hukkeri mobilised public contribution and got the street-lamps re-installed which again enraged him, he added. He said that Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) G. Radhika met them and assured them of safety.
