Mangaluru, Nov 14: 29-year-old Sameeullah, who is recovering at a private hospital in Mangaluru after being stabbed multiple times by unidentified miscreants at Bantwal two days ago, is still unsure why he and his close friend Harish were targeted by the murderers, who managed to disrupt peace in the society by killing a youth.
Harish (file photo) and his friend Sameeullah, who is being treated at a hospital
“Neither me, nor Harish had any links with any organizations. We were together since childhood and always helped each other. We never indulged in any criminal or anti-social activities and we had no enemies,” says, the Muslim youth, for whom the loss of his Hindu friend in stabbing is giving multiple times more pain than that of deep stab wounds on his body.
“He was my schoolmate and he was my best friend since then,” the injured youth told Coastaldigest.com, from the hospital bed. “It is unfortunate that he is a victim of religious fanatics. What saddens me is the fate of the family of Harish who have lost their sole earning member,” he says recalling his childhood days when he used to played cricket and spend many happy moments with Harish.
Sameeullah, a driver in a steel trading firm in B.C.Road, said he had returned to the office around 5 p.m. on Thursday after delivering a load of steel to a customer. “As soon as I came, there was disturbance opposite our office (where Social Democratic Party of India activists were agitated over stones thrown at them).”
Raghavendra Prabhu, the owner of the firm, asked him and other drivers to bring vehicles inside the firm’s premises and leave the office. He returned on his motorcycle to the ground near his house in Badagudde where he played volleyball. He and other friends then went to a shop nearby for Laxmi Pooja.
Harish also joined them and they all had snacks and juice at the shop. “Around 7.30 p.m. all my friends left. Two minutes later I left in my motorcycle to drop Harish to his house, 50 metres away.”
Just a few metres from Harish’s house, attackers had blocked the road by placing an Omni van. As they reached near the vehicle, the group of assailants pounced on them.
“We both fell off the motorbike and began to run in different directions. The assailants first caught me and attacked with a sharp weapon. But, I managed to escape in the dark. Meanwhile, a few other members in the group chased Harish and hit his back with sharp object,” he said adding that he could not even turn back and look at Harish, who breathed his last while being taken to hospital.
“If we had left the place with other friends, we could have been saved from the attack (that resulted in Harish’s death),” repents a helpless Sameeuallah, who had returned homeland around six months ago after working in a gulf country for nearly two-and-a-half years.
Sameeullah, says that his family is the only Muslim family among three dozens of families residing in Badagundi hamlet in Bantwal taluk.
“We were leading peaceful life even when other parts of the taluk were plagued by communal violence,” he recalls.
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