Udupi: Udupi City Police have arrested five persons in connection with the assault on NSUI district leader Sharath Kunder over a minor issue.
The arrested accused have been identified as Akshath Pai (27) of Kunjibettu, Sushanth (25), Ramananda Pai (42), Santosh Koraga (38) and Shamshank Nayak (25) of Alevoor.
Police have seized the car allegedly used in the crime and two mobile phones from the accused. The arrested persons have been produced before the court.
According to the complaint, on January 30 at around 9 pm, Sharath Kunder (25), a resident of Chittadi Bailoor Badagubettu, had gone to a hotel in Manipal along with a friend for dinner. There, a verbal argument reportedly broke out between him and Akshath Pai, Shashank and the son of the owner of Radhakrishna General Store in Udupi over a trivial matter.
Later, when Sharath was returning home and reached near Kalsanka, Akshath Pai allegedly called him and asked him to stop near PPC Cross to discuss the issue related to the hotel argument. At around 11.30 pm, while Sharath was standing by the roadside near PPC Cross along with his friends Dhruva, Silan Gagan and Rohith, two vehicles reportedly arrived at the spot.
As per the complaint, Akshath Pai, Shashank and 6 to 7 others got down from the vehicles and assaulted Sharath using sword-like weapons and an iron chain.
After the assault, the accused allegedly issued death threats and fled from the scene. The injured Sharath was admitted to hospital and treated.
A case had been registered at Udupi City Police Station and further investigation is underway.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Bengaluru (PTI): Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday dismissed speculation over confusion in the BJP-JD(S) alliance, asserting that there was clarity within them and that discussions on the chief minister post were premature.
Addressing reporters at the party's state office, JP Bhavan, after chairing a preparatory meeting for the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) elections, he said the immediate priority was to remove what he termed an "anti-people government" in the state and to strengthen the alliance to face upcoming polls.
"This is not the time to discuss who should become the chief minister. There is still time for that. If we speak about it now, it would be like stitching the cradle even before the baby is born," Kumaraswamy said, underlining that leadership questions would be taken up at an appropriate time.
The JD(S) second-in-command said there is still a lot of work to be done and it was not appropriate to speak about such matters now.
"On the issue of alliance, both I and our party are open-minded. When the time comes, we will discuss it on the party platform and take a decision. There is no confusion regarding the alliance, and there will be no confusion in the future. This is my stand," Kumaraswamy said.
"There is a bad government in the state. My objective is to remove it and bring in a pro-people government. Removing this corrupt and bad government is my agenda. The JD(S) and BJP parties will work together to accomplish this task," he added.
Reiterating his stand, Kumaraswamy said, "My objective is to remove the anti-people government in the state. I have been saying this from the beginning."
On reports of internal differences over the alliance and the CM's position, the union minister said he would not respond to every statement made by individuals.
"Some people are speaking about the alliance and the chief minister's position. I do not feel the need to respond to them. If I start answering each of them, people may think I lack maturity. Therefore, I will not speak about it. We will strengthen the alliance together, face the elections together, and bring a pro-people government," he said.
Kumaraswamy added that discussions within parties were natural and not final.
He said there were still two years left for the Assembly elections while there were four to five months left for the local body elections.
The union minister said the JD(S) is also preparing for the municipal elections in Bengaluru city just as other parties.
He clarified that there had been no discussions so far between the two parties specifically on local body or GBA elections.
Earlier, the JD(S) leader chaired a meeting with Members of the Legislative Council, former MLAs and other leaders of his party to review preparations for the GBA elections.
