Newskarnataka-Bantwal
Bantwal : An attempt was made on the life of a journalist of Vittal by brutally assaulting him by activists of an organization at Madakatte near Karai in Kolnadu village on November 27, Wednesday morning. It is suspected that the act of the journalist in coming forward to assist a poor Muslim family to construct a house, had led to the assault.
It is learnt a group of around 35 to 40 persons heinously assaulted and kicked the journalist and had also hit him with iron rods and wooden planks. A complaint has been lodged in Vittal police station.
The incident : When Prasad was speaking to the headmaster of a school close by his house at around 11.45 am, a group belonging to the Muslim community had approached him. Later they took him to a nearby house of Aleema where they brutally assaulted him. Prasad who lay unconscious following the attack was shifted to a private hospital in Puttur through the Friends Vittal Ambulance. However, when he failed to respond to treatment, he was rushed to a private hospital in Mangalore.
The Vittal police who rushed to the spot managed to arrest Siddique of Kelagina Barebettuu and Abdul Jabbar Kudtamugeru.
Alima of Barebettu was homeless and VT Prasad had highlighted the plight of the poor family in the eveninger for which he was working and had also sought the help of donors. The then Panchayat president Subhaschandra Shetty Kulalu and social worker Dawood had responded to the plea for help. Even the Karnataka Saw Mill of Mangalore had donated wood worth Rs 70,000. VT Prasad had also taken up the responsibility of constructing the house partially. Meanwhile, an organization had even donated wooden materials which were procured following the demolition of an ancient house. However, these were not used as the wood was not in good condition. What is learnt is that the particular organization was infuriated over Prasad for not using the wood donated by it and thought it was at Prasad’s behest that the family had decided against using the wood donated by it. This is suspected to be the reason for the attack.
VT Prasad’s statement : The injured journalist said so “ No one had come foward to assist Aleema, a poor neighbouring woman to construct a house. I had sought the help of donors from the village and around. This might have led to resentment of some members of that community. They have now assaulted me questioning why I have taken up the responsibility of constructing the house. I have identified some of the accused as Siddique, Bariq, Madaka Sharief, Jabbar and Abdulla Latif Madaka. A total of 450 persons were in the group.”
Attack condemned : The Bantwal Taluk Working Journalists Union has condemned the at tack on VT Prasad. Maunesh Vishwakarma, President of the Union has demanded that the assailants be arrested at the earliest.
Protest : A public protest has been planned in front of Vittal police station on November 28, Thursday morning to condemn the attack and to demand the arrest of the assailants immediately.