The Dakshina Kannada Police have arrested two men on the charge of abusing a woman and assaulting a man who was with her in a restaurant in Puttur on Monday evening. The two men have said that they are Hindu Jagran Vedike activists
The police gave the names of the arrested men as Geetesh (29) of Balamogaru village of Puttur taluk and Ashok (34) of Kendambady village of Puttur taluk.
The two arrested and three others, all of whom are said to be activists of the vedike, entered the restaurant where Rajeshwari (36), a resident of Anekal, and her friends, Shiva from Kottigere in Bengaluru and U.K. Mohammed Arafat, a resident of Ullal, were having dinner. They abused Rajeshwari for sitting with two men and took their photographs. One among the activists reportedly assaulted Shiva. Five more activists were standing outside the restaurant.
The police rushed to the spot and took away Ms. Rajeshwari and her two colleagues. Based on a complaint by Rajeshwari, the police arrested Geetesh and Ashok for offences punishable under Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting) , 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with an intent to provoke breach of peace) and 509 (act intended to insult modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.
Efforts are on to trace the other accused involved in the incident.
The police said that Ms. Rajeshwari and her two colleagues had come in a car from Bengaluru to Puttur on September 18 to get their car released from a local court. The car had been seized by Puttur Town Police two months ago in connection with a criminal case. To complete the legal formalities, Ms. Rajeshwari and her colleagues had stayed in a lodge near the restaurant.
