Mangaluru: Home minister G Parameshwara and minister for health and family welfare and district minister Dinesh Gundu Rao condemned the alleged mob lynching incident reported near Bhatra Kallurti Temple in Kudupu in the city. Home minister Parameshwara told reporters that police would take the issue very seriously.
"An incident of mob lynching was reported, and his name has not yet been identified. His identity, whether he was from the same district or outside, has not yet been ascertained at this point. According to the initial report, this individual was shouting ‘Pakistan Zindabad' and things like that when a local cricket match was going on. Hearing this, a few people got together and beat him. He did not die on the spot, but later succumbed to injuries. I need to get the actual report," Parameshwara said.
These kinds of incidents should not happen anywhere, not only in Karnataka but also in any other place. Karnataka is such a peaceful state, and we do not want to allow these kinds of incidents. "Even if he shouted ‘Pakistan Zindabad', they could have handed him over to police instead of taking the law into their hands," the home minister said and appealed to the public to maintain peace and harmony.
District minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, in his X handle, wrote: "The incident near Kudupu on the outskirts of Mangaluru, where a young man was brutally murdered by being hit with a stone, is highly condemnable. While playing a game of cricket, an argument broke out between a group of players and a youth from another community, which led to an assault on the youth. Such incidents sow the seeds of communal hate. I have instructed police officials to take strict action against the culprits involved in the incident."
Meanwhile, Shahul Hameed KK, president of Minority Wing, Dakshina Kannada District Congress, expressed dissatisfaction with the statements made by the home minister and the district minister and urged them to visit the district immediately to assess the situation. Blaming failure on the part of police department's intelligence division, he said that if locals are questioned about the mob lynching of the migrant worker, clear information could be obtained.