Youth thrashed for protesting alcohol consumption, one held

A 37-year-old man was arrested on charges of assaulting a youth who had protested against consumption of alcohol openly on road at Chetla on Wednesday night. The youth’s mother 

was also beaten up.

Police said that the accused Tinku Das was arrested within an hour after the incident occurred. He has been remanded in police custody till July 18, after being produced before the court on Thursday morning.

Sources said that the victim Dipak Roy found Tinku and some of his friends consuming alcohol openly at the intersection of two lanes in their locality. Dipak had protested against the miscreants and threatened to inform the police.

It led to an altercation between Dipak and the accused, who owns a chicken shop in the area. Soon, both were engaged in a brawl and the situation turned worse when the accused brought a meat cleaver while his friends continued beating up the victim.

The victim had fallen on the road after being beaten up mercilessly when Tinku tried to strike him with the meat cleaver. However, he missed his target and Dipak received injuries on his hand. The victim’s mother was also beaten up when she came to save his son. She too was injured. Local people took Dipak to hospital where he received necessary treatment.

The incident led to panic in the area. A police officer said that Dipak and Tinku knew each other.

“It seems that Tinku had a rivalry with Dipak, as a result of which the former attacked the victim as soon as he had raised his voice against open consumption of alcohol in the area,” the police officer said.

People in the area too raised their voice against the existing problem and demanded necessary steps by the police to keep such incidents into check.It may be recalled that a  few days ago, a 30-year-old engineer was beaten to death following a scuffle, when he went out to have biriyani with his friend near Maddox Square on June 22. 

Recurrence of such incidents in the city has raised concern among the police. A senior police officer said that local police stations have been asked to take stringent action if anyone is found taking alcohol openly on road.