A student of the Devaraj Urs Medical College located at Tamaka on the outskirts of Kolar sustained serious burn injuries when some miscreants set him ablaze late on Tuesday.
Police said that Kameshwar Prasad, a final year student, was attacked when he was returning home. Two youths astride a motorcycle poured petrol on him and set him ablaze, even as they relieved him of a gold chain. People residing in the area and passersby who initially panicked, doused the fire and immediately rushed him to the nearby Jalappa Hospital, which, incidentally, is the teaching hospital for the Devaraj Urs Medical College.
He was thereafter shifted to the St. John’s Medical College hospital in Bangalore and his condition was stated to be serious. The Kolar police said, “We do not know who the assailants are and it could possibly be a case of theft since the student was also alone.”
Prasad hails from Hyderabad and was staying in a rented house at Tamaka. “We are yet to record the statement of the victim since he is unconscious,” Gulpet Police Sub Inspector Liaqat Ullah told The Hindu . Meanwhile, rumours were rife that the medical student was attacked in view of his association with the Telangana stir.
Superintendent of Police, Ram Nivas Sepat, declined to comment on the issue. “The police are investigating the case,” he said.