Thirteen persons have been arrested for allegedly attacking a Karnataka police officer in Maharashtra’s Umarga taluk on Saturday. Kalaburgi (rural) circle inspector Shrimant Illal is in serious condition at a hospital in Bengaluru and is being treated by a special team of doctors.
Illal was in Maharashtra investigating a drug case when he was attacked. Praveen Sood, Karnataka Police’s director-general, tweeted confirmation of the arrests and said ‘more soon’. He also called Illal a ‘braveheart’ and vowed to do everything possible for his recovery.
It was earlier expected Illal would airlifted from a Kalaburgi hospital – where he had been placed on a ventilator after sustaining a severe head injury – to one in Hyderabad but, on Monday, he was brought to Bengaluru’s Manipal Hospital. Apart from the head injury, he is also believed to have multiple fractured ribs and facial bone injuries.
Fortunately, though, there is believed to be no significant injuries to organs.
According to news agency ANI, around 40 peope attacked Illal. Kalaburagi superintendent of polcie Isha Pant said, “Police inspector brutally attacked by miscreants during Ganja plantation probe case… admitted to hospital. He (and) a team went to a location near Karnataka-Maharashtra border… they were attacked by 30-40 from Umarge village.”
