Unruly youth arrested for assaulting PSI

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: A 20-year-old youth was arrested for allegedly assaulting an on-duty police officer in the Peenya Police Station limits here on Wednesday. According to sources, the youth identified as Mounesh, 20, had picked a fight with a BMTC bus conductor, Ashok, the same morning following which he was handed over to the police.

Mounesh, a student of dentistry, took a bus to reach his college in Goraguntepalya on Wednesday morning. As the bus conductor approached him for a ticket, the youth allegedly showed him a photocopy of a bus pass. When the conductor objected and asked for the original, the youth started an argument saying that women are allowed to travel by producing photocopies of the Aadhaar card and that his photocopy should suffice.

Further Mounesh allegedly assaulted the conductor prompting several passengers to intervene and hand him over to the police. Mounesh was made to wait for an inquiry at the police station during which he called his brother over the phone. With the support of his brother, Mounesh entered into an argument with the police officers and allegedly punched the police sub-inspector (SI) in the face and kicked him in his private parts.

The injured SI, Siddu Hugar, was shifted to a private hospital where senior officers visited him later in the day. Mounesh was arrested immediately while his brother managed to escape, sources added. Following the incident, Mounesh's father, Rajanna, claimed that his son was a bit upset after the Neet results that were announced on Tuesday.

“In the morning, he asked me to drop him to college, but I dropped him at Gangamma Circle from where he took a BMTC bus. Later, he was crying when he called me from the police station. When I reached the police station, the SI had thrashed my elder son after which I took him outside. Mounesh told me that the SI had thrashed him too and abused him in foul language. At this time, all policemen at the station got together, pinned my son to the ground and assaulted him," he claimed.

Based on the bus conductor's complaint, the Peenya police have registered an FIR against Mounesh for preventing a government servant from discharging his duty under IPC Sections 504, 503 and 353 and arrested him. Another FIR is likely to be filed against him for allegedly assaulting the sub-inspector. People usually are raised with diverse values, one of them being respect.

However, it seems that some youths have strayed away from the tradition in the way they were raised. Further investigation is underway and efforts are on to nab Mounesh's brother, sources said. On Sunday, a 40-year-old local outfit president was arrested for assaulting a police officer, who stopped him from creating ruckus at the Star Biryani hotel in Sahakarnagar here.