Daya Kukkaje, a photojournalist, is taken for questioning after being accused of raping and threatening a Mangalore-based college student.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Kavitha B.T. said the student had accused him of abusing her more than once, first after promising to marry her and later under threat.
A case has been registered against him in Pandeshwar Police Station.
Ullal calm
A day after an unprovoked attack on two youths led to a volatile situation in Ullal, normality returned to the town on Wednesday.
Police, who had kept barricades to regulate movement of people following the incident on Tuesday, however, continued the vigil on Wednesday.
A five-member group assaulted Mohammed Ashfaq (21) and Mohammed Nasir (24) of Kotepura when the two were proceeding towards Ullal beach around 5 p.m. “I just turned and saw this group, who were sitting on a bench. This was enough for them to attack us,” said Mr. Ashfaq, who is admitted in a hospital. The assailants were seated at a place where local fishermen, who act as lifeguards, sit.
Around 8 p.m., Latesh (26) and Sahan (26), were assaulted while they were returning home in Bastipadpu in Ullal in what is said to be a retaliatory attack. While the two persons hit the two youths, a few threw soft drink bottles at the two youths. The Ullal police have registered two separate cases of causing hurt.
Meanwhile, a member of Shivaji Jeevarakshaka Eejugarara Sangha was attacked when he reportedly went to help an innocent fisherman from being assaulted by members agitated over the attack on youths on the beach. A separate complaint has been registered.
Man ends life
A 30-year-old man jumped in front of a running train at Kalavara village coming under Kundapur police station limits on Wednesday. Kundapur police named the victim as Manjunath Poojary , a resident of Hombady-Mandady village. The police established his identity through his voter ID. An alcoholic, Poojary worked at a goods transport company.
Constable accused of theft
Residents of Pilar in Ullal accused a 32-year-old Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) constable of attempting to steal articles from the house of an advocate on Tuesday night. The Ullal police have arrested the constable.
The residents, who suspected that he may not be charged for the theft, gathered outside the police station seeking adequate action against him.
According to advocate Anand Gatti, the complainant, his wife heard a person climbing the stairs of their building in the middle of the night. She woke up Mr. Gatti, who switched the lights on and went out to look. He then saw a person coming down the stairs. Before he could catch him, the person jumped the compound wall and started running.
Mr. Gatti claimed that the same person had attempted to steal articles from the adjoining house that belonged to his parents, on July 29. Mr. Gatti and a few of his neighbours found the scooter which the intruder had allegedly used. They found his purse, ATM card and his mobile phone in the vehicle. They used the mobile phone and identified him as Varun, a KSRP constable, working in Assaigoli. Ullal police arrested Varun based on a complaint filed by Mr. Gatti. The police said Varun had stated that he had gone to Mr. Gatti’s house but maintained that he wanted to pluck tender coconut and not commit any theft. Mr. Gatti and other residents said police need to interrogate and find persons associated with Varun. Residents, who had gathered in big number at the Ullal police station, said they had been having sleepless nights following an increase in the number of thefts.
