6 dalits assaulted for 'refusing to vote for BJP'

Six people of the Dalit community were assaulted by a group of eight people at Yavagal village in Ron taluk, Gadag district, on Saturday evening as they reportedly refused to vote for the BJP candidate.

The victims have been admitted at KIMS, Hubballi. They are stated to be out of danger. Yavagal falls under Nargund Assembly constituency where C C Patil is the BJP candidate, while B R Yavagal has contested from the Congress. Based on a complaint by Devendrappa Kollappanavar, one of the victims, the police registered cases against Chennappa Mudakappa Hadli, Mallikajigouda V Policepatil, B G Policepatil, Pramod Desai, Hemesh Baligar, Muttanagouda Policepatil, Nabeesab Mustafnavar and Basavanagouda Policepatil.

The police said the victims had gone to a booth to poll their votes. The suspects accosted and directed them to vote for the BJP candidate. They were irked when the victims refused and assaulted them. The suspects kept two of them under house arrest for three hours, said the police.