Friends laid to rest; Hunsur turns restive

It was the funeral of Sudheendra, son of a wealthy hardware trader Mohan Kumar, and his friend Vighnesh, who were found murdered on Sunday near Chikkaballapur. Both were residents of Hunsur and students of business management at Mahajana College in Mysore. They were allegedly kidnapped on June 8 for a ransom of Rs five crore. Their bodies were brought to the town on Sunday night by the State police.

The slight drizzle soaking the town since Monday morning seemed to join the townspeople in their most difficult moments. With businessmen, traders and hoteliers voluntarily downing the shutters, silence seemed to pierce through the conscience of Hunsur. The town had seen the two boys take their first steps, do their first jig at school, learn to ride bikes, fancy everything that a normal teenager did.

Just as their bodies were lifted for the last set of rituals to be completed before they were taken on the final journey and then for cremation, the cries of sorrow reached the crescendo.

When Vighnesh’s body was brought to Sudheendra’s house, just about three kilometre away, emotions ran high. With Sudheendra’s body also being taken out on its final journey, people joined the procession.There seemed to be an unsaid rule that guided them in all silence and order to the crematorium situated in KHB Colony on Hunsur Road.

Their final rites were performed on the banks of Lakshamana Teertha river closeby.
The town then went into a frenzy with people staging a ‘rasta roko’ on the Mangalore-Bangalore Road for more than two hours. With top officials from Mysore district visiting the spot of protest, people vented their anger, hurling the choicest of abuses at them.
South Zone Inspector General of Police Amar Kumar Pandey, District Superintendent of Police Manish Karbiker, DySP Mutthuswamy Naidu and others pacified the protesters.