80-yr-old among three held for 'racial' attack on man from Mizoram

Three of a family were arrested by the Banaswadi police on Tuesday in connection with the assault on a man from the Northeast over a parking row at Akkayyamma Layout in Banaswadi on December 26.

The arrested are Clifford Wilson, 80, his son Carlton, 56, and his daughter-in-law Lynn, 54, all residents of Akkayyamma Layout. They were arrested for assaulting Jerry, a native of Mizoram who works as a hairstylist in a saloon.

On December 26, around 2 am, Jerry and his friend came out of the house and found his bike, which was parked in front of their house, fallen down. Jerry assumed Clifford, who resides in the opposite building, was responsible for this.

He went to Clifford’s house, knocked on the gate and started shouting at him.
Clifford, Carlton and Lynn came out and asked Jerry to leave them alone as it was late in the night and would sort out the issue in the morning, police said.

Hurled abuses

But Jerry continued hurling abuses. Clifford and his son got furious and assaulted Jerry. They also beat him up with a cane. The neighbours pacified them and asked Jerry to leave the  place. The incident was captured on a mobile phone by a neighbour, who handed it over the footage to the Banaswadi police on January 6.

“The arrested persons claimed that the youths, who hail from other states, create problems by parking their vehicles in a haphazard manner, leaving little space for them to park their vehicles. They also play loud music late in the night, disturbing the residents,” said a senior police officer.

“A suo motu complaint was registered, based on the footage,” the officer said.

“It is definitely a racial attack as our people are targeted often even if it is a petty issue. Jerry called me up around 2.20 pm on December 26. He told me he did not do anything to them, but they kept punching and beating him,” said Rini Ralte, president, North East Association, Solidarity.