5 held for attacking migrants

Two cases of assault on North-East migrants were reported in the City on Friday. Cops arrested five people after the victims lodged a complaint with the Wilson Garden police.

A gang of eight allegedly assaulted three Manipuri men in front of Big Bazaar on Double Road in the afternoon. Lialia Viphai, Robert and Liangoufang Valte, all residents of Jayanagar, had come for shopping.

As they came out of the shop, two men waylaid them. The duo allegedly asked them about their origin and when they said they were from Manipur, the men verbally abused and threatened them.

When one of the attackers called his accomplices on the mobile, six people joined them and attacked the North-Easterners. They kicked and injured Viphai, police said. Wilson Garden police collected clues from the CCTV footages at the mall and identified five men who had attacked the migrants and arrested them.

The arrested are Abrar Ahmed, 25, a team leader in the sales department at Big Bazzar, and his colleagues Vinay, 20, Salman, 22, Anthony, 23, and Mubarak. Police have identified three other assaulters and are on the lookout for them.

In the second incident, three North-Easterners were attacked by two thugs at Neelasandra. One of the victims, Kumar Chetri, 36, has been living in the City for 15 years now. On Friday afternoon, Ajay Chetri, 29, Kumar’s brother, and two of their relatives Prakash Rai, 28, and Rijen Gurung, 22, went to a shop nearby. As they were returning home, two unidentified men attacked them and chased them around, hurling abuses and threats.

Assault

“They kicked Ajay and hit me on the head with a helmet as I tried to help Ajay who had fallen down on the road. We ran for our lives. But they kept chasing us,” said Prakash Rai. As the three managed to reach their house, the attackers barged into the house.

Chetri even tried to reason with them. “But they wouldn’t listen to us. One of them kicked me and said we either leave the City or face the consequences, after Monday,” Chetri said.

A case was registered at the Ashok Nagar police station. “I have been residing in Neelasandra area for 15 years. I am  pained that none of the onlookers came to our rescue. I feel very insecure here and I have a family of seven, including my aged parents and my young daughter. We have decided to leave the City for good,” said Chetri.

“We will leave in a day or two. We don’t like to leave Bangalore and face an uncertain future in our home state. But we can’t lose our lives,” said Chetri.

Meanwhile, Rajeev Newar from Assam, working as a chef in a bar and restaurant at Puttenahalli in JP Nagar, on Thursday complained to the police that he had received five threatening calls from an unknown number. He said the caller intimidated him and asked him to leave the City immediately, or get killed.

JP Nagar police have taken up the case.

Three cases of assault were registered at Ashok Nagar police station on Thursday night.