By IANS,
Bangalore : Eighteen police platoons were deployed in Karnataka’s Puttur town after violence erupted over the thrashing of three boys in an incident of moral policing, an official said Thursday.
“The situation is stable now. Extra forces have been deployed to maintain peace in Puttur,” police officer A. Subramanyeshwara Rao told IANS on phone from Mangalore, around 350 km from here.
Police had deployed 15 platoons and rushed three more late Wednesday following violent clashes between some groups.
On Tuesday, a group of people attacked three boys found talking to two women in a bus. It was later found that the two women were teachers in an airhostess training institute in Mangalore and the three boys were their students.
The five were returning to Mangalore after a visit to Puttur, about 40 km away, when they were accosted and the boys were thrashed by pro-Hindu activists as they were believed to be Muslims.
One of the boys was later found to be a Christian and the other two Hindus.
As the news about the attack spread, people from the minority community rushed to the Puttur police station, demanding action against the attackers. An altercation led to clashes between two groups. Police baton charged the people to end the clashes.
This was followed by the stabbing of two brothers Badruddin Musliyar and Abdullah in Puttur late Wednesday. The attackers also torched the house of Badruddin’s cousin, police said.
“We have arrested two persons in connection with the attack,” Rao said.