Karwar: Paresh Mesta, 21, was missing since Wednesday night, after he reportedly tried to escape from stone pelting by a mob belonging to a Muslim community. It is said that Paresh was abducted by members of the Muslim Community. Leaders of different Hindu organizations had issued an ultimatum to find him on Thursday. His body was found floating in the Shettikeri lake on Friday.
It all began on Wednesday when an altercation between an autorickshaw driver and a motorbike rider flared up into a communal clash.
“An altercation began between a motorbike rider and autorickshaw driver over a small accident. This became a major fight and snowballed into incidents where mobs wielding machetes and wooden sticks attacked houses and shops belonging to a particular community,” Inspector General of Police, Hemanth Nimbalkar said.
A few hours after the stone pelting incident, Paresh Mesta went missing after he reportedly tried to escape the stone pelting.
Paresh’s relatives allege that he was abducted and murdered by the members of Muslim community. They said Paresh belonged to the Fishermen community, and was an expert swimmer, and that there was no chance that he would drown in the lake. There were rumours that his body bore the marks of attacks by a sharp weapon. The postmortem of the body was conducted in the government hospital in Honnavar, and the reasons behind the death is yet to be ascertained.
So far, police have arrested 40 people, including the former president of the Honnavar town panchayat, in this connection.
(Reference: The News Minute, Times Of India)





