Vandalism in Dharwad: FIR against accused

NT Correspondent

An FIR was registered against a Sri Rama Sene member on Sunday, for vandalising the goods of Muslim fruit sellers near Nuggekeri Hanuman temple in Dharwad.

People became aware of the issue when the video of the incident went viral on Saturday. The clip showed Sri Rama Sene members vandalising the fruit push carts of four Muslim vendors. The vandals had apparently smashed the watermelons of the fruit sellers and the fruits could be seen lying on the ground. A lone policeman could be seen looking on helplessly.

The right wing outfit members were reportedly upset that Muslims had been engaged in business near the temple premises. This led to arguments between the Muslim vendors and the Sri Rama Sene members. Later on, heavy police presence near the temple has helped calm tensions in the area.

The FIR was registered because of the complaint of senior citizen Nabisab Gousab Killedar, one of the victims of the attack. He told media persons that he was under a great deal of distress since the incident.

“They started smashing our goods without warning. We can hardly pick up our goods with just our two hands. When we requested them to stop so that we may at least save our goods, they didn’t listen.

There were five to 10 of them and I was all alone. They told us we had warned Muslims to not set up shop here. We’re poor people. I’ll just lift my hands in the air. Just kill me.

When you destroy my sustenance, what am I supposed to do? I felt like weeping just looking at my destroyed fruits,” an inconsolable Nabisab said.