Fresh violence reported in Mangalore, toll rises to 2

Fresh violence rocked the coastal town of Mangalore late on Saturday evening when a armed mob intercepted an ambulance, dragged the passengers out and stabbed them, leading to the death of one of them.

Though the curfew-clamped town of Mangalore remained largely peaceful throughout the day on Saturday, except for stray incidents of stone throwing, a late-evening outbreak of trouble in Adoor-Polali Road, about fifteen km from the City, claimed the life of a 36-year-old youth.

The deceased has been identified as Ibrahim, who was travelling to Bajpe airport in an ambulance along with six others. The ambulance was waylaid by a group of armed miscreants, who attacked the passengers with lethal weapons. The ambulance was later set on fire.

The severely injured passengers of the ambulance were shifted to a private hospital in the City, but Ibrahim was declared brought dead by the duty doctors at 9 pm. Two others, who received stab wounds, are believed to be in a critical condition.

Meanwhile, Saturday night’s incident takes the death toll in the communal violence to two. On Friday night, a Muslim cleric and resident of Sullia, Abdul Gafoor, 26, had succumbed to stab wounds in a private hospital. Though Gafoor had been rescued from a marauding mob by the police and admitted to a hospital, he had breathed his last early on Saturday morning.

The town remained calm on Sunday and police relaxed curfew in a few areas to allow people to buy essential commodities. Though no major incidents of trouble were reported from Mangalore or its outskirts, the situation remained tense with stray incidents of torching of vehicles and shops reported from far-flung pockets of Mangalore not covered by curfew.

In Bangalore, Karnataka’s Home Minister M P Prakash blamed Hindu fundamentalist groups and radical Islamic groups for violence in Mangalore.

But, Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa immediately swung to the defense of the Hindu groups and said not a single pro-Hindu organizations was responsible for the violence in Mangalore. He said he would urge Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and Home Minister M P Prakash to order an inquiry into the riots.

Reacting to Prakash’s suspicion that the outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) could be behind the trouble in Mangalore, Preisdent of Jamaat E Islami Hind, Karnataka and Goa, Ibrahim Sayeed said no outlawed group operated in Mangalore district.

Meanwhile, the Congress party has accused the JD (S)-BJP Government in Karnataka of failing to provide security to the minorities and cited the communal violence in Mangalore as a case in point. Congress leaders Kagodu Thimappa and H Vishwanath convened a press conference in Bangalore and said the Hindu fundamentalist groups were going about communalizing the society under the patronage of the coalition Government