Mangaluru: Two persons were tragically killed in the wake of the violent protests that broke out in the city on Thursday, December 19.
The deceased have been identified as Mohammed Jaleel (49) of Kanduka and Nousheen (23) of Kudroli. It has not yet been confirmed whether the deaths occurred due to gun shots, lathi-charge or stone-pelting.
Speaking to mediapersons here on Thursday, Commissioner of Police Dr P S Harsha explained that the police were forced to resort to lathi-charge and firing, as a large number of miscreants started hurling stones at them and the public, while also damaging public property.
“Even though the Muslim religious leaders rushed to the spot and asked the protesters not to indulge in violence, they did not heed their words and continued to wreak havoc, armed with lethal weapons and glass bottles. In this melee, two civilians were killed. The exact cause of their death will be revealed only after a post mortem,” he said.
It can be recalled that protests broke out all over the country against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. The Karnataka state police had imposed section 144 of the CrPC ahead of the scheduled protests, but they were ignored by the agitators. Clashes between the police and civilians were seen in many parts of the country.
Things took a violent turn in Mangaluru later in the day, forcing the police to impose a curfew in certain parts of the city namely, Urwa, Pandeshwar, Barke, Bunder, and Kadri, while section 144 was enforced in the rest of the city.
Seeing the situation, Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh announced a holiday for students on Friday, December 20.
