Bhatkal: Four youths have been arrested in Shiralkoppa and brought to Bhatkal regarding the charges of assaulting an auto rickshaw driver in Bhatkal. They were identified as Abdul Rehman (25),  Zia Shaikh (25), Abdul Majeed (24), all from Bhatkal Badriya colony and Bilal Ahmed (26) from Bhatkal Umar street.

It should be noted that in an incident that has sparked public outrage, an auto driver was brutally assaulted by a group of four people when he was driving on Bundar Road on Saturday, 6 May. The attackers also took off with the auto Rickshaw of the victim, which was later found at Moosa nagar and was damaged. The police who were not able to detain any of the attackers till Wednesday, finally succeeded to arrest them at the neighboring district Shimoga and were brought to Bhatkal on Friday.

It was said that the auto driver was escorting his wife and his sister from Azad Nagar to Makhdoom colony when a car blocked his way on Bundar road. Four people emerged from the car, grabbed Ashraf by the coller and started beating him. "We tried to intervene, but they pushed us to the ground.", said Ashraf's sister. After rendering him seriously injured, the attackers fled in their car and also drove away Ashraf's auto.

When the news of the assault spread, residents of Makhdoom colony -where Ashraf resides- rushed to the spot and took him to the Bhatkal Government Hospital. He was later taken to Udupi for further treatment as he had suffered serious injuries on his nose and neck. 

On the other hand, Ashraf's auto was found in Moosa nagar while the car of attackers identified by the number was submitted to the police. The car was also caught on same day.

According to police, the car driver told police that Ashraf was eve teasing his sister since two months and this was the reason that prompted the assault. Local residents are angry that Ashraf was attacked and are saying that he is a person of good character. The auto Rickshaw drivers' union also came up strongly in Ashraf's support and stated that no one can take law in their own hands.  "There are two possibilities, either they have mistaken Ashraf for someone else and attacked him, which is wrong. Or, even if he was involved in eve teasing, they had no right to attack him. If he was eve teasing since two months, why didnt they go to the police or complain to the local leaders?" Demanded Mr. Naeem, the vice president of the union.

Locals were alleging that despite taking one of the attackers into custody, the police is not keen to pursue the case. A series of incidents after the assault seem to cement their doubts and their anger has since intensified.

The auto union members were also met with the Bhatkal DySP and asked him to take action against the attackers. The union has given an ultimatum to the police that they will call an auto rickshaw bandh and will seat on dharna on Monday, 15 May, at town police station if the police fails to arrest the attackers till Saturday. At the other hand, Maqdoom colony people have approached Tanzeem, the local NGO, to exert pressure on authorities. 

Finally the police succeeded to arrest four attackers and brought them to Bhatkal and produced them in the JMFC court and sent them to judicial custody.