Mulbagal: Nangali police arrested four people of Petandlahalli village near Byrakur in the taluk on Saturday, for harassment of a Dalit youth who committed suicide in Bevahalli village of the taluk.

The police sources said that Raju, Shivaraj, Gopalakrishnappa and Munivenkatappa were arrested in relation to the case.

Uday Kiran, who belonged to a Dalit community, is learned to have committed suicide after being assaulted by the arrested men, who are from upper castes, for apparently a trivial reason.

Nangali police had filed a case against the four arrested men under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, said sources.

District Superintendent D Devaraj has said, “The four accused, who had been absconding, were held on Saturday. The investigation in the matter will be intensified.”

On November 30, Uday and his friend, who were on a two-wheeler, overtook Raju and Gopalakrishnappa, who were apparently upset by this. The arrested men are said to have stopped and verbally assaulted Uday on the spot. Later, when Uday and his friend were returning from Kadenahalli, the four men stopped the duo near Petlandahalli and thrashed Uday, before taking away his bike and mobile phone, sources said.

When Uday approached the arrested men later to collect his two-wheeler and mobile phone, the four men are learned to have tied him to a tree at Racchekatte of Petlandahalli, thrashed and verbally abused him on caste basis too.

The complainants told the Nangali police that Uday, unable to take the insult, committed suicide.

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Kolkata (PTI): Three persons died and three others were injured after being hit by a train amid dense fog on Saturday, while travelling to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally at Taherpur in West Bengal's Nadia district, a senior official said.

The incident occurred between Taherpur and Badkulla railway stations under the Sealdah-Krishnanagar section of Eastern Railway, he said.

Modi, whose helicopter could not land at Taherpur due to dense fog and low visibility, condoled the death of the “BJP workers” in his virtual address from Kolkata airport.

“I have come to know that some BJP workers, while travelling to the rally, lost their lives in a rail accident. My condolences are with the families of those who have lost their loved ones, and I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured,” Modi said.

The Eastern Railway official told PTI that the incident occurred in the morning when these people, who were travelling by a bus, had stopped the vehicle and walked to the railway tracks to answer nature's call.

"While three persons died on the spot, two others with injuries were admitted to a local hospital," he said.

Another person with minor injuries was released after having been administered first aid, the official said.

The deceased have been identified as Ramprasad Ghosh (74), Shaktipada Sutradhar (55) and Gopinath Das (38).

Meanwhile, Mahua Moitra, Trinamool Congress MP from Krishnanagar constituency in Nadia district, alleged that the BJP ignored the incident and went ahead with the rally.

"Terrible tragedy hushed up at altar of @narendramodi ego. @BJP4India supporters brought from far Murshidabad for PM rally in Ranaghat today," she said in a post on X.

"4 went to answer nature's call and were killed by 31814 down local train near Taherpur. BJP ignored, blacked out & went ahead with rally," Moitra claimed.

Reacting to her remarks, the West Bengal BJP, in a post on X, asserted that the TMC "has always been adept at milking tragedies", and was being "disrespectful to the unfortunate victims of this tragedy".

The TMC alleged that BJP leaders have not shown "neither concern nor compassion" over the mishap.

"The loss of three lives in Taherpur should have united everyone in grief. But @BJP4India leaders showed neither concern nor compassion," it said in another post on X.

"At this painful moment, Smt @MamataOfficial and Shri @abhishekaitc put humanity above party lines and stood beside the families of the deceased," the party said.

TMC’s on-ground leaders promptly reached out to the grieving family members, ensuring them of help and assistance, it said.

"While Delhi’s rulers chase Bengal with arrogance, our leadership chose empathy. This is the difference between politics of power and politics of people!" the TMC added.