With his father Afzal Pasha frequently ill and three sisters to support, Junaid, who earned Rs 50 per day as a mechanic, was almost the main breadwinner of a family that lives in a tiny one-room house in Shanthinagar — a poor locality in Mysore. The day violence broke out over the alleged desecration of an under-construction mosque, Junaid had been sent out by his parents to place flowers and sandalwood at the grave of his uncle who died the previous week. “He went to the burial ground and never returned home,” says his mother.

That morning, peace in the locality had been shattered. The police were chasing stone throwing mobs with a flurry of tear gas and bullets. According to his parents and locals, Junaid, who was a witness to the clash, took a bullet and died soon after. The police, however, have been insisting that the death occurred due to stabbing with an iron rod. Two post-mortems have been conducted and the conclusion is that Junaid did not die due to police firing.

The violence stemming from the alleged desecration of the mosque has been mindless in tearing families apart.

On Friday evening, BJP youth leader V Giridhar was attacked on the street outside his home, even as his wife screamed for help from the first floor of their home. The BJP leader, who is fighting for his life, was talking to his friend Wajid Baig when the attack took place. Baig, who tried to protect his friend, is also in the hospital with sword inflicted injuries on his head. Giridhar’s wife Shylaja said she pleaded with people to help take her husband and his friend to hospital. She finally found an auto-rickshaw and took them to hospital. 

On Thursday, when Mubarak Akhtar was chased off his motorcycle and killed, the 22-year-old had pleaded with the mob to let him go since he was on his way home after buying medicines for his wife.

The wife of Tirupathy, a 42-year-old mason, had begged a mob to let her husband go when he was randomly picked up and killed.

Around Mysore, where a bandh was observed on Saturday, conversation revolved around “what is happening to Mysore”. Innocent people are suffering as a result of the selfish games being played by political outfits, was a common refrain heard from tea store owners to rickshaw drivers.

14 arrested for inciting riots

MYSORE: Police on Friday arrested 14 persons for allegedly inciting violence that broke out in various parts of Mysore on July 2 over alleged desecration of a Madrasa and left three persons dead and six injured. Police said the accused, activists of the Popular Front of India, were arrested soon after they addressed a press conference. PTI