How the friends were trapped

Last evening, Mehndi Hussain and Shailesh Shivabhai — both sons of Fire Brigade employees from Raipur and fast friends — left thei...

Last evening, Mehndi Hussain and Shailesh Shivabhai — both sons of Fire Brigade employees from Raipur and fast friends — left their residential colony on a two-wheeler. They had just covered a little distance when a mob caught up with them. They asked Shailesh his name, and then asked after Ketan. Shailesh introduced Hussain as Ketan, but the mob was not convinced and demanded to see their college ID cards.

On learning Hussain’s identity, the mob attacked the youths with knuckle dusters, smashing Hussain’s face.

Shivabhai, who managed to escape, rang up the fire station from a nearby telephone booth. When the Fire Brigade ambulance reached the spot, the mob attacked the Fire Brigade employees, including the driver. They fled, and the mob set the ambulance on fire. By the time another ambulance reached the spot, Hussain was unconscious. The youths were later taken to V.S. Hospital.

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Today, Hussain’s face is a bloody mess. His forehead is torn, his cheeks have deep cuts, the chin is fractured and his front teeth have been broken. His face has 20 stitches, but the wounds continue to bleed. Unable to speak, his father and the driver who brought them to the hospital narrate the incident.

‘‘They had just stepped out of the house when they were stopped by a mob. They were asked their names and on learning Hussain’s identity, the mob started beating them up,’’ says Hasambhai Noorbhai Dedarotiya, Hussain’s father, who is a mechanic at the Danapith fire station.

After the three Fire Brigade employees ran off, the mob pulled out the injured Hussain from the ambulance and beat him till he lost consciousness. Thinking he was dead, the mob torched the ambulance and left. Shailesh then called Danapith Fire Brigade, but it was around 10 pm when officials reached the spot and took the youths to the hospital, Dedarotiya adds.

The Fire Brigade driver, who took the youths to the hospital, says that they were beaten up in front of Raipur police station and yet the police did nothing. ‘‘Hussain was lying near the feet of the station PI when I reached, but the PI just stood there. When we insisted that the police open fire to disperse the crowd, they just lobbed a few teargas shells. We never expected the police to behave like this. We just can’t trust them,’’ he says.

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Health Minister and Khadia MLA Ashok Bhatt says one person has been arrested for the attack and search for the others is on.

Assistant Commissioner of Police S.K. Dave, meanwhile, alleges that the youths were indulging in eve-teasing and that is why they were beaten up.

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