Conductor allegedly assaulted for asking commuter to speak in Kannada

DCP Rohan Jagadeesh met NWKRTC conductor Mahadevappa Hukkeri in hospital in Belagavi district on Friday.
| Photo Credit: P.K. BADIGER

A group of unidentified miscreants allegedly assaulted a NWKRTC conductor for asking them to speak in Kannada as he did not know Marathi in Chikka Balekundri village of Belagavi district.

Mahadevappa Hukkeri, the bus conductor, was admitted to the Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences after he suffered injuries. He told the police that around 20 villagers from Chikka Balekundri had attacked him when the bus entered the village, following an altercation with a passenger.

A boy was travelling with a girl on the bus. The conductor told the boy that he had to pay for his ticket while the girl could travel for free. The boy began arguing with him in Marathi. When the conductor told him he had to speak in Kannada as he did not understand Marathi, the boy abused him. He also called his friends and associates on his phone and asked them to get on the bus in the village. They beat him up. When the bus returned, the conductor went to the hospital, the police said.

DCP Rohan Jagadeesh visited him in hospital. Karnataka Rakshana Vedike activists demanded the arrest of the alleged offenders.