Fourteen days after the attack by vigilantes on students partying at a home stay, Avron Lawrance Rosario, a college student, and one of the invitees to the birthday party of Vijay Kumar, revealed that the police did not try to stop the incident despite arriving at the spot within three minutes of the attack. In an admission that is certain to embarrass Mangalore’s police force and raise questions about their political affiliations, Rosario, one of the invitees to his friend Vijay Kumar’s birthday party scheduled for 7 pm on July 28, stopped short at the gate when he saw goons entering the premises, accompanied by policemen.
“I had reached the gate of the home stay around 7 pm along with the cake and coke bottles for Vijay’s party when I saw the group of goons, who came in an Alto and a Scorpio, entering the premises. I was scared and stopped near the gate. Within three minutes I saw a person in a Yamaha YBX bike, who looked like a Hindu outfit activist, escorting a police jeep to the venue,” Avron said. “The jeep had five policemen (constables) including the driver in it. The four constables who got down from the jeep entered the gates of the home stay. They were told something by the person who escorted them. The person rushed towards the home stay and the police constables started walking slowly towards it too. Surely, they must have known that boys and girls were being assaulted inside,” he said.
Though the police entered the premises within three minutes of the attack, they entered the home-stay, less than a 100m from the gate, only after 15-20 minutes. “After some time I saw a few more policemen coming who went in well after 8.30 pm,” he added. Rosario said he was scared at the sight of so many police alongside the vigilantes.