Hyderabad: A juvenile pickpocket allegedly attacked a senior DRDO official from Odisha near Charminar in broad daylight on Sunday. The Regional Director of Koraput DRDO unit, Mr. R.K. Satpathy was seriously injured in the attack, and was shifted to Osmania General Hospital.
The juvenile boy, who is addicted to whitener, scratched and stabbed the DRDO official with a sharp weapon on his stomach and shoulder in a bid to escape. Mr Satpathy and his colleagues had caught hold of the 15-year-old boy after he stole a mobile phone from one of them, police officials said.
The incident occurred when Mr Satpathy and 14 other DRDO officials from different parts of the country came to visit Charminar, and were visiting the nearest markets after attending a three-day seminar in the city.
"The boy stole a mobile phone from one of the officials and started running. When they raised an alarm, a local man chased the accused and caught hold of him. He then handed over the juvenile to Mr Satpathy, who detained the boy in order to hand him over to the police. Suddenly, he took out a sharp object, scratched Mr Satpathy and ran away," said an eyewitness, who is a local vendor.
The juvenile had stolen the mobile phone of a DRDO official named Mr Lohgaonkar, who raised the alarm. Other DRDO officials, who were with the victim, said that they were waiting for the police to hand over the boy.
“They had alerted the police soon after catching him along with the mobile phone. The boy attacked Satpathy in order to escape before the police could reach the spot,” said South Zone DCP S. Tripathi.
Police said they have identified the juvenile and will arrest him. “The boy was involved in a offence in the past, and he was named as second accused. However, since he is a minor, he got bail,” said the DCP. Cops said the boy used to steal to buy intoxicants.
Meanwhile, OGH doctors said the victim had two major injuries, but is out of danger. “The two injuries, under the left chest and shoulder are five centimeters deep. The wounds had to be closed with 40 stitches. His condition is stable,” a doctor said.
