In Himachal Pradesh, the Manali Police have arrested four men for attacking locals with swords in the hill station. The arrested men, who were tourists from Punjab, reportedly launched the attack when they were asked to reverse their car. A case has been registered against them under relevant sections of the IPC and Arms Act, said Gurdev Singh, SP Kullu.
Himachal Pradesh | Four tourists from Punjab arrested for attacking public with swords in Manali after they were asked to reverse their car, which was causing traffic jam; one injured. A case has been registered under relevant sections of IPC and Arms Act: Gurdev Sharma, SP Kullu pic.twitter.com/I7TVtfHNs0
— ANI (@ANI) July 15, 2021
A video of the purported incident has surfaced online, where two men are seen openly brandishing swords in public when asked to move their car backwards to resolve the traffic jam. One person, who looks visibly miffed, is also seen making a phone call to someone as he roams around with a sword on the road.
Manali: Overtaking bid turns into an ugly scuffle, tourist brandishes a sword after tiff with locals#ITVideo #Manali #HimachalPradesh #CoronavirusPandemic #Covidiots | @manjeet_sehgal pic.twitter.com/3NOMUyedoL
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) July 15, 2021
According to News18 Hindi, the arrest was made based on a complaint filed by one Harish Kumar, a resident of Bhadyar village of Kotli Tehsil in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district. In his complaint, Kumar alleged that the tourists, who were in an inebriated state, clashed with the public after they were requested to reverse their car.
Kumar said that the tourists were heading from the Manali bus stand towards Rangri in their car bearing the registration number of Patiala in Punjab. The car overtook other vehicles near the BBMB rest house, which caused traffic congestion on the road. The driver of the car was asked to reverse his car to solve the traffic jam. This irked the youth sitting in the car, who came out with a sword and attacked the public, injuring Harish Kumar amongst others.
The arrested youths were identified as Ravindra Singh(21), a resident of Bhagwanpura village in Sunam Tehsil in Punjab’s Sangrur district, Dilbar Singh (28), resident of village Sindhara in Punjab, Amandeep Singh (24), hailing from Dharamgarh village in Sunam Tehsil and Jasraj a resident of Kandial in Batala, Punjab.
They have been booked under the Arms Act and IPC sections 147, 148, 149, 323, 506 and 25. It is alleged that these tourists were under the influence of alcohol.
In another similar incident that came to the fore on July 6, a group of tourists from Punjab allegedly attacked two locals with swords in Mandi in Manali, after the latter opposed the nuisance they were creating in the Thaneda market in Mandi. In the attack, one youth’s finger was cut off, while the other escaped with some injuries. The tourists who had fled the spot were later arrested based on CCTV footage.
