Bengaluru: A day after his arrest, Shanthinagar MLA, N.A. Haris’ son, Mohammad Nalapad Haris, allegedly confessed to the police that he and his men beat up a 24-year-old man, Vidwat, following a heated argument at the Farzi Cafe in UB City Saturday night.
Vidwat , who sustained multiple injuries and broken ribs and nose, is still in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Mallya Hospital.
Mohammad, who surrendered before the Cubbon Park police Monday morning after evading arrest for 36 hours, was questioned by Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths. Post interrogation, he and his associates are said to have received special treatment from the station staff, who allegedly gave him a separate room to spend the night in and a mobile phone to allow him to speak to his friends and relatives.
But when contacted, DCP (Central Division), Chandragupta, denied that Mohammad was receiving any special treatment. He said the CCTV footage from in and around Farzi Cafe showed that there were many people surrounding the two groups.
“We still don’t know who assaulted whom first. We will get a clear picture once we record Vidwat's statement. Doctors say he will need a few days more to recover. But prima facie the involvement of Mohammed and his gang has been established,” he added.
As for the assault on media persons at Cubbon Park police station on Monday, Mr. Chandragupta said a resident of Ashoknagar, Mujeeb had been arrested for it.
So far, besides Mohammad, the police have arrested Arun Babu, the owner of a juice centre in Austin Town, Manjunath, a driver-cum-bouncer, Mohammed Ashraf, an umeployed B.Com graduate, Balakrishna, a driver, Abhishek, a small-time businessman and Mohammed Nasir. A few more men involved in the assault, including one Srikrishna, are still at large.
The incident
Vidwat and his friend, Praveen were at the Farzi Cafe in UB city for dinner when at around 11 pm Saturday night Mohammad took objection to the former’s leg touching him accidentally.
Vidwat explained he had a fractured leg and had to keep it stretched out.
But a quarrel broke out and Mohammad demanded an apology from him, but Vidvat reportedly refused to give it. Mohammad then allegedly called up his henchmen and mercilessly beat him up.
The nightmare did not end there as when Praveen rushed Vidwat to Mallya Hospital, Mohammad and gang allegedly arrived there too and warned him against filing a complaint with the police.
FALSE CASE FALLS APART
Soon after Vidwat’s family members lodged a complaint with the Cubbon Park police station, one of the accused, Arun Babu, filed a counter complaint, claiming that a drunk Vidvat had provoked Mohammad.
But on verification from the Mallya Hospital the police found that Vidwat was not drunk at the time as claimed.
Will Mohammad get bail?
Mohammad, who was sent to police custody for two days by the 8th ACMM court on Monday, will be produced before the magistrate on Wednesday. While his lawyer is bound to file for bail, sources say he and his men are unlikely to get it as the police have still not recorded the victim’s statement. The court could either extend their police custody or send them to judicial custody, going by sources.
When a Father pays for son’s indiscretion
Bengaluru: A day after his son, Mohammad Nalapad Haris surrendered to the police, Shanthinagar MLA, N A Haris cut a sorry figure in the Legislative Assembly, apologising for his son’s behaviour.
“I am an elected representative and also a father. No father should ever have to face what I am going through. I apologise to the House, state government, my party, media and also the public for this incident,” he said.
Contending that “children do make mistakes,” he maintained it was the duty of parents to teach them to walk on the right path. “I shall do it. And I will also apologise to the media men, who were assaulted near Cubbon park police station on Monday. No one is above the law. After I learnt about the incident, I tried contacting my son, but his phone was switched off as he was afraid I would blast him. When his phone was switched on again, I contacted him and as a responsible member of the Legislative House asked him to surrender before the police. I did not bring any pressure on the state government. I appeal all to stop dragging this incident,”' he pleaded.
Earlier, opposition party members attacked the home department for failing to take immediate action against Nalapad.
“If there was no pressure from the public and the media, the police would have suppressed the incident and Nalapad would not have been arrested. Common people are not safe under this government,” charged opposition leader, Jagadish Shettar.
While CM Siddaramaiah intervened to say necessary action had been taken under the law and a case had been booked under IPC 307 (attempt to murder) against Nalapad, Mr Shettar argued that it was only on his orders that the case was booked when it should have been done by the police themselves.
Recalling the previous cases against Nalapad, he said Peter who was allegedly assaulted last year and Poornima, who was allegedly attacked a while ago had now come out in public about their experiences. “But earlier when these two tried to lodge a complaint against Nalapad, the police did not help them as it was a high profile case. If the case had been booked against Nalapad at the time, this incident would not have happened. Give freedom to your policemen and curtail such anti-social elements,” he said.
Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy responded that it was a small incident that had turned ugly, big and bad. “I visited the hospital and the police officer has been suspended for not making the arrest on time. Also, the ACP concerned has been transferred and the case has been handed over to the CCB for investigation,” he said.
