M'lore - Talapady buses remain off road as 2 groups clash

Tension prevails as 6 persons suffer injuries; vehicles damaged

Tensed atmosphere prevailed in Talapady in Mangalore taluk following a clash between two groups and the city buses from Mangalore to Talapady remained off the road on Tuesday.

As many as six persons suffered injuries in a clash that broke out between a group
and bus employees at Kunjathur (on the border) in Kasargod district on Monday late night.

Demanding security to the bus employees, the city bus services were stopped, thus putting the commuters to hardship.

Tiff

It was said that two youth who were sitting on the front seat (next to driver’s sea) had kept their leg on the gearbox.

As the driver of the bus Chandrakanth objected to it, the enraged youth kept their leg on the gearbox till Talapady and entered into verbal fight with the driver.

In retaliation, the driver informed his friends, who assaulted the youth at Talapady.
Enraged over the incident, the youth who were the residents of Kunjathur with the help from their friends assaulted driver Chandrakanth, conductor Swasthik and mechanic who was repairing the bus after the last trip.

The public and other bus employees who were at the spot in turn assaulted the youth, which created tension in Talapady.

The injured are Ayub, Shameera, Afzal, Irshad, Chandrakanth and Swasthik.
Following the bus strike, all the schoolchildren and office-goers had to depend on KSRTC buses from Kasargod to reach Mangalore on Tuesday. A few were taking the services of autorickshaw to reach Thokkottu to board other buses to reach Mangalore.
Bus owners Ganesh Shetty, Gopal Shetty and Muslim leader Siddiq Kolangeri solved the problem through dialogue in the evening.

The police have beefed up security in the region. Police City Commissioner Manish Karbikar visited the spot.